A Lee County grand jury has declined to indict Glenwood School substitute teacher Charles "Chuck" Fessenden on charges he made sexual statements to a student, Fessenden's defense attorney said this afternoon.
Fessenden, 78, was arrested Dec. 2 in Phenix City on one felony count of enticing a child for indecent purposes. Fessenden is a well-known advocate for the arts in Columbus and the father of Julia Slater, district attorney of the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit, a six-county jurisdiction that includes Columbus.
“It is clear that if the Phenix City Police Department had conducted a thorough investigation and interviewed students, teachers and administrators from Glenwood School, the 'knee jerk' reaction in obtaining a warrant for my arrest would have be averted," Fessenden said in statement e-mailed to the media by his attorney, Jeremy W. Armstrong. "Although my reputation among the community was harmed by these absurd allegations, I wish to thank those Lee County grand jurors for its thorough consideration and determining I never acted inappropriate with this student.”
Lee County District Attorney Robbie Treese did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment. Phenix City Police Chief Ray Smith also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“I said initially that I stood by my father and I believe in the system, and now I feel my faith in my father and my confidence in the system have been confirmed," Slater told the Ledger-Enquirer this afternoon. "My family and I are relieved to have this behind us, and we’re pleased that my father has been exonerated. Our prayers for a just resolution have been answered.”
An affidavit outlining the allegations against Fessenden accused him of making sexual comments to a 14-year-old student in a series of exchanges that made her "very uncomfortable." The girl told authorities the alleged lewd comments began last year when she was in eighth grade, and that the most recent occurrence had been in October of last year.
"(The alleged victim) disclosed that Fessenden has made several sexual comments to her during this period to include him asking her to come to his residence to ‘dance’ on him,” the affidavit said, “and also made comments about the two of them having sex, all of which (the alleged victim) advised made her very uncomfortable.”
School officials said at the time that Fessenden stopped teaching at the school and hadn't returned to campus since the charges came to light.
Armstrong, in a news release sent this afternoon, said the grand jury issued a "no bill" on the felony charge.
"Through phone calls made to our law firm, it was learned that a number of students from Glenwood School testified before the Lee County Grand Jury regarding the alleged victim’s allegations," Armstrong said, noting that "no information regarding the substance of the testimony of these students were discussed with our law firm."
Shortly after Fessenden's arrest, Armstrong had issued a rare pre-trial statement to the newspaper in which he predicted a full vindication of his client. He said at the time he found it disturbing that so many people in the community had "convicted Mr. Fessenden based on mere allegations," while ignoring the "fundamental and constitutional principle of presumption of innocence."
