The state concluded its evidence on Monday afternoon in the trial of former county school teacher Duane Sanders. Sanders is charged with 19 child sex cases involving nine different students, though the state agreed to dismiss several counts.
Male students who were in Sanders' first grade class told through forensic interviews or courtroom testimony about the teacher repeatedly putting them in his lap and molesting them. Several parents also took the witness stand.
One parent said she and her family were at the dinner table when their son said he had been "touched a lot by my teacher." The mother said afterward, "I started crying." She said, "I was shocked."
She said her husband went directly to call detectives.
When her nine-year-old was taken to talk with authorities he was told, "Just tell the truth. Tell what happened."
One child said he was fondled by the teacher "200 times."
The defense called Dr. Zac Brown, county school chief talent officer, who gave an outline of Sanders' career with the schools.
He said he was a substitute teacher starting in 2009, then was an educational assistant from 2014-2016 at East Brainerd Elementary School with some work at Westview Elementary.
Dr. Brown said Sanders was an educational assistant and teacher intern at East Side Elementary in the spring of 2019. He became a teacher at Wallace A. Smith Elementary that fall. He was arrested in March 2023.