Judge To Review Naked 'Fat Test' Investigations Into Former North Kingstown Coach

NORTH KINGSTOWN, RI — In a narrow decision, the North Kingstown Town Council voted to have a judge review the investigations into allegations that the high school's former basketball coach forced students to strip naked behind closed doors.

In a 3-2 vote, the council hired retired Superior Court Justice Susan McGuirl. She will review the Attorney General Office and school committee's investigations into former coach Aaron Thomas, rather than the council conducting an independent investigation.

Former students say former coach Aaron Thomas asked students to strip naked in his office for so-called "fat tests," and say he had been doing so since the 1990s. According to WPRI 12, which first reported this story, Superintendent Phil Auger kept Thomas on as a coach for more than two years after some students came forward. This has led many outraged parents to call for Auger's resignation. Town Councilor Mary Brimer said Auger should at least be placed on leave.

Auger denied he knew the extent of the allegations in 2018.

"If I had the 2021 information in 2018, I would have initiated the suspension and termination then," Auger said.

He said the former student that came forward in 2018 did not bring up the naked "fat tests." According to Auger, the former student said he wasn't naked, but was wearing a towel or gym shorts during the tests. But Attorney Timothy Conlon, who is representing former students who came forward, refuted Auger's claim that he didn't know about the allegations.

Brimer and Kerry McKay were the two town councilors to vote against having McGuirl review the investigations. Both said the investigation needs to be conducted out of state.

"This needs to be handled as far from the state of Rhode Island as humanly possible," McKay said. "I don’t think anybody at the firms that are represented here can step aside from all the other political discourse that takes place in our state, and I think that’s a mistake."

But Town Council President Greg Manchini believes the mistake would be conducting another investigation. He said it may harm the victims more than help them.

"Those individuals could inadvertently change their story and could also not want to be interviewed," Manchini said.

No timeline for the investigation review was announced, so it's unclear when it will be completed. The council set a budget of no more than $25,000 for the review.