Virginia Teacher Awarded $5 Million After False Accusation Of Sexual Assault

Ashe SchowFebruary 27, 2023

A jury awarded $5 Million to a Virginia teacher after she was falsely accused in sexual assault of a 17-year old student.

Kimberly Winters was an English teacher at high school when Loudoun County sheriff’s deputies raided the house and arrested her for allegedly assaulting a male student. The Washington Post reported. The outlet reported that she had been robbed by deputies dressed in riot gear and entered her home.

“It was very terrifying,” Winters said so to the outlet. “I still have nightmares. Big guns.”

Loudoun sent her mugshot to the media, along with a press statement stating she had been charged for sexually abusing a student. She was fired from Park View High School’s teaching job and had difficulty finding work for the next two years. Even as a stock- clerk at a grocery, she was refused employment. The allegations caused anxiety and tremors, she told the Post.

“It became so humiliating, I literally couldn’t go out of my house,” She spoke. “This has been going on for four years. The repeated trauma of having to relive this created this tremor. My entire body shakes.”

The allegations were at best questionable and Det. According to her lawyer, Peter Roque was present at Winters’ arrest. According to her lawyer, a sworn search order application was filed at the time of Winters’ arrest. It stated in Roque’s handwriting that “Witnesses’ statements are corroborated by phone records,” However, such phone records do not exist.

Park View graduate, the accuser, and his mother, claimed that the sexual abuse occurred in fall 2018. The school district and Loudoun County Sheriff’s offices were notified. Both determined that the student was 18 at the time of the accusations, so there would not have been any crime.

Winters insists that she had never had a sexual relationship before or after turning 18.

Following the dismissal, Winters sued Roque, Sheriff Mike Chapman, arguing that her lawsuit showed that the student, who hasn’t been named, and his mom altered the dates of allegations to the date the accuser would have turned 17. Although the mother claimed that she had records of text messages between Winters and her son, those texts were never made available. He also claimed that he had called and texted Winters. However, he told authorities that he had wiped his phone before making these claims.

Winters also was able to state in her lawsuit that she was at a tournament where one of the sexual encounters was alleged, and was out of state at another wedding. Thomas Plofchan Winters’ attorney stated that Winters was not questioned about the alibi and that police did not investigate it before arresting her.

Her lawsuit stated that police searched Winters’ classroom and home but found no evidence of a relationship.

Plofchan presented evidence in 2019 to show that Roque’s investigation was inadequate. The case against Winters was dropped.

Winters’ lawsuit was brought to trial earlier this month. The trial lasted five days. It took the Loudoun jury less that two hours to decide in Winters’ favor, and award her $5 million.

“I hope I can just start to rebuild,” Winters shared his thoughts with the Post. “This definitely isn’t a cure-all. The information [about the arrest] is still out there.”