Jury finds Verona school administrator not guilty of molesting student – Madison.com

Corey Saffold appeared to wipe away tears and was congratulated by his lawyers after the jury of seven women and five men returned the verdict after about five hours of deliberation.

Saffold, 46, was charged with one felony count of child abuse in June 2023 for hitting the student in an argument on May 18, which Saffold said was an attempt to protect himself and other staff and students from the boy, Daveon Carter, who was wandering halls and making threats.

Outside the courtroom, he said he plans to continue working for the school district and is “glad this is over.”

“I’ve always wanted to keep staff and students safe and that’s what I plan to do,” he said. “I believe the jury reached a good conclusion. They obeyed the law.”

Surveillance video of the incident, which does not include audio, shows Saffold following the student down the hall when the student appears to react to something Saffold says, stops and faces him. Seconds later, Saffold can be seen elbowing the student in the head and a struggle ensues between the student and Saffold and two other staff members to get the student to the floor and eventually handcuff him.

Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozan, in his closing arguments, pointed to witnesses who testified that while Carter regularly made verbal threats, he was not known to physically assault anyone, and that according to the training Saffold received and taught, there were no instances in which justify a school official hitting a student.

Carter had been walking the hallways for several hours before the altercation with Saffold, Ozan noted, and had not assaulted anyone during that time. He was also allowed to take breaks from class under his individualized education program – used with students who are identified as having disabilities – and at the time of the Carter incident he had gone to the school office as directed and, presumably , to home.

“He approached and initiated this violent act,” Ozan said of Saffold.

But Saffold’s lawyers stressed that Carter’s threats, which included threats to target specific students and “shoot up the school”, should not be taken lightly and in striking the first blow their client, a former police officer, was acting responsibly to protect himself and the other 2,100 people in the building.

They also argued that regardless of what Saffold was trained to do or his status as a school employee, the law allowed him to defend himself if he reasonably believed he was about to be attacked.

“Everyone has the right to defend themselves,” said one of Saffold’s attorneys, Kathryn White, in her closing argument.

“The law doesn’t say anything about waiting to be hit,” she said. “You can act preemptively.”

Immediately after the incident last year, the district said it placed Saffold on paid leave and a few weeks later on unpaid leave. The school board decided not to fire him in June 2023, rejecting the recommendation of district administrators. Their investigation found that Saffold broke multiple rules by elbowing the student, initiating physical contact.

Saffold’s attorney Jonas Bednarek said Saffold has since returned to his position without restrictions on how he interacts with students.

The district did not immediately respond Thursday afternoon to a request for comment.

Ozan and Bednarek declined to say whether prosecutors have offered to allow Saffold to plead to a lesser charge before trial, but Ozan said offering such deals is a routine part of his office’s work.