After a year of facing accusations that cost him his job and reputation, he was ready to defend himself in front of a jury. To let his community in this rural Utah town know that he didn’t do the things he had been accused of. To tell them he felt he had been set up by a police officer who tried to trick him.
Initially, Thomas had faced serious charges, ones he refers to as “the heinous crimes.” Duchesne County prosecutors had accused him of making plans to sexually assault a child — but a judge threw out those charges late last year, finding there was no evidence to prove the case.