A former Virginia teacher on trial for allegedly molesting a student denied her most serious allegations in court Wednesday but admitted some of his conduct was unprofessional.
The accused, former Langston Hughes Middle School vocational education teacher Timothy Threlkeld, was last to take the stand in his trial, firmly denying he improperly touched an 14-year-old eighth grade student as the school year came to a close in 2014.
The accuser, now 18 and starting college, testified in detail Tuesday about four incidents in which she says Threlkeld inappropriately touched her and had her inappropriately touch him in a shop room closet at the school. She said she viewed their relationship as that of a boyfriend and girlfriend.
Under questioning by his attorney, Threlkeld insisted there was no physical relationship — no kissing or intentional touching.
The teacher also told jurors he never allowed students into the storage closet where the teen says the incidents took place.
Prosecutors played a call the teen made to Threlkeld last year, which police recorded. The teen detailed improper touching to see if Threlkeld would admit it, but he didn’t.
“Are you sorry for the things we did?" she asked.
"I don't know what to tell you," he said. "It caused me a lot of problems, what went on, and I don't know what to tell you."
As for 600 pages worth of text messages he exchanged with the teen in just a week’s time, Threlkeld conceded texting a student around midnight was unprofessional and inappropriate. He also admitted meeting the student for a movie.
The jury is expected to begin deliberating Thursday.
Threlkeld surrendered his teaching license years ago when the inappropriate relationship was revealed in late June 2014, when the teen's older sister caught her with Threlkeld on a planned movie date at Reston Town Center.
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Police and school officials were alerted, but the girl told them they had only kissed. No charges were filed.
Threlkeld resigned from his position as a shop teacher at Langston Hughes Middle School in 2015, police said, and he surrendered his teaching license when confronted by Fairfax County Public Schools officials.
In 2017, the teen came forward with new allegations, resulting in charges: four counts of taking indecent liberties with a child.
