I've just learned the outcome of the case against Alabama polygraph examiner Ronald P. Bae, who was indicted on a felony sexual abuse charge in 2010. In 2012, a jury found Bae
http://www.dothaneagle.com/news/former-criminal-justice-professor-acquitted-of-s... Former criminal justice professor acquitted of sex abuse Posted: Wednesday, March 21, 2012 7:04 pm
Matt Elofson
A Houston County jury found a former Dothan criminal justice professor not guilty of molesting one of his students.
Attorney Billy Joe Sheffield II said his client Ronald Phillip Bae, 65, of Cottonwood, was acquitted of his felony first-degree sex abuse charge. Sheffield said the jury deliberated less than 20 minutes before returning their verdict late Wednesday afternoon in front of Circuit Court Judge Kevin Moulton.
Dothan police arrested Bae on Nov. 4, 2009, less than a week after the alleged sex offense happened.
Police charged him with felony first-degree sex abuse of a 21-year-old female student at Troy University Dothan where he formerly worked as a professor. Sheffield said Bae retired after the accusation came out. Bae had worked at the university for more than 20 years. Attorney John White also represented Bae at trial.
Police said the alleged crime happened at Bae’s business, Bae Polygraph & Hypnosis Center, located on North Oates Street near downtown Dothan. Court records show the offense is alleged to have happened on Oct. 29, 2009.
If convicted of the class C felony charge of first-degree sex abuse, Bae faced one to 10 years in prison.
Court records show Bae was also charged with misdemeanor harassment in 2006, during which a woman alleged he had inappropriately touched her. White represented him on that charge, and he was later acquitted of that charge.
Sheffield said he questioned the alleged victim’s timing in reporting the offense to the police, and why she waited four days to report it.
“He performed a polygraph test on her, but all the accusations she said were unfounded,” Sheffield said. “She indicated Dr. Bae told her to take off her shirt, but our witness that was in the office said that never occurred.”
Sheffield said after his client was acquitted of a similar offense several years earlier his client started a policy to never do a polygraph test at his office alone. Sheffield said his client’s wife was supposed to be there that day in 2009, but instead the parent of another student was there in another nearby room.
Sheffield said his client planned to reopen his polygraph business in Dothan.
“When you’re running a business it’s always best to have a witness there to protect you. In this case it’s her word against his except for the fact Dr. Bae had somebody else in the office,” Sheffield said. “We’re a hundred percent in agreement with the verdict, and we’re just glad it’s all over with.”
Assistant Houston County District Attorney Patrick Amason questioned why Bae didn’t do the polygraph test at the school where there would be more people around.
“This is a student teacher relationship. She trusted him and he was her instructor. There’s no evidence whatsoever she fabricated her story,” Amason said. “The defense pulls out a magic witness two and a half years later that now claims he was there when this happened, yet he never went to the police.”
Amason said these types of cases are “very” tough because it’s often the victim’s word against the defendant’s word.
“It came down to the fact this girl stood up for what was right. She had the courage to stand up and do what’s right and follow it through all the way to court with the hope they would hear her story so this wouldn’t happen to anybody else,” Amason said. “Unfortunately the jury didn’t see it that way. She’s very upset about the outcome, but she understands how the judicial system works. She can hold her head up high knowing she did the right thing by coming forward.”
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Polygraph Operator Ronald P. Bae Indicted for Felony Sexual Abuse (Read 10352 times)
