Kimberly Winters, a former English teacher at Park View High School in Virginia, has been awarded $5 million in damages by a jury after being wrongfully accused of sexual abuse of her then-17-year-old student.
Charges against Winters were dismissed after her lawyer presented prosecutors with no evidence of the crime.
The first Ms. Winters knew of the charges came when officers in riot gear burst into her bedroom and arrested her in 2018, she told The Washington Post.
During a five-day trial, Mr. Roque admitted that he had seen no evidence of calls and texts between the former student and Ms. Winters. And that her accuser and his mother had only told him they existed.
He also failed to interview key neighbors, friends, and witnesses. And did not check the alibis for the teacher.
The former teacher and her legal team sued Loudoun County Sheriff Michael Chapman and Deputy Peter Roque.
$5 million in damages for a “ruined life”
A jury found that Deputy Roque had acted maliciously in his handling of the investigation into Winters and awarded her $5 million, including $350,000 in punitive damages for the malicious prosecution case. It only took the jury 2-hours to return the judgement for Winters.
