Ex-teacher's aide not guilty in sex abuse case

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by Jim Walsh - Aug. 26, 2008 02:26 PM

The Arizona Republic

A former Mesa teacher's aide was found not guilty of three counts of sexual abuse Tuesday by a Maricopa County Superior Court jury.

Kyle M. Hite, 26, who had been training at Mesa's Westwood High School for a possible bid at the Olympic track team, was cleared of wrongdoing after a six-day trial before Judge David Udall.

"He started crying" when the verdict was announced, said Eric Crocker, Hite's defense attorney. "He was very emotional."

Hite was accused by prosecutors of touching the breast of a 15-year-old girl repeatedly during math classes in February of 2007, but he insisted that any contact was accidental.

Crocker said the case boiled down to the victim's word against Hite's, with no other students witnessing anything inappropriate.

"The key was the lack of evidence," he said.

Hite was a football player at Upper Iowa University. Later, he played for a semi-professional football team in South Dakota, the Dakota Lawdawgs. He was described by his coach at that time, Jordan Taylor, as "an exceptional athlete."

Crocker said Hite started working at Westwood while he trained for the Olympics and had aspirations of becoming a kick returner in the National Football League.

Most recently, he had been working in real estate, Crocker said.

Before the trial, Hite was offered a plea deal of 10 years probation and registration as a sex offender on two counts of sexual abuse, the defense attorney said. Hite would have faced a possibility of two years of jail on the plea offer and 6½ years in prison if he had been convicted on all charges at trial.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/mesa/ar...erdict0827.html