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Tonya Craft

May 12, 2010 by · Comments Off on Tonya Craft 

Tonya Craft:(May 1912) – The acquittal of Tonya Craft eased on Tuesday who supported the former kindergarten teacher in Georgia since his arrest nearly two years ago for allegedly molesting three girls. But the accused was less than jubilant in an interview this morning.

“It was a win,” said the boat “on NBC Today.” “Nobody wins in this situation. My whole heart has been taken, and I have half of it back.”

Craft, 37, was arrested in June 2008 after he was accused of sexually abusing three girls aged 5 and 6, at his home between August 2005 and May 2007. After a five-week trial that captured national media attention, a jury began to discuss their case Monday afternoon. On Tuesday, she was found not guilty to 22 charges, including child molestation, aggravated sexual assault and child abuse.

Crafts have been convicted he would have faced up to 400 years in prison.

Talking to Meredith Vieira, Craft said he hoped the truth would come out, but was “scared to death” would not. He described seeing her daughter testify against him in court.

“That was absolutely the hardest thing I have experienced, because my work is like a mother to protect her,” said Craft. “There obviously was no anger towards her. It absolutely broke my heart that my daughter had been more or less indoctrinated to believe things that were not true.”

Crafts chief counsel, Dr. Demosthenes LorĂ¡nd University, said his client has been receiving death threats. “So we rushed out of the courtroom,” said Lorand during the same appearance on “Today.”

David Craft, who has stuck with his wife throughout the trial, said he was proud of Tonya Vieira, who said “never stop fighting.”

Now that the trial is over, Craft says he is focused on making his two children back, who has not seen in 712 days. He also wants to raise awareness of their struggle, and warned that it can “happen anywhere, anytime, to anyone.”

Art left Chattanooga, Tennessee, for a round of national conversation shows on Tuesday and is expected to appear on Larry King Live on CNN tonight.

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