Retired Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School business teacher Leo Frame Jr. of Edgartown was found not guilty Friday afternoon in Edgartown District Court on two charges of indecent assault and battery. Mr. Frame was accused of sexually assaulting an 18-year-old former student in June of 2013.
Following a two-day trial presided over by Judge J. Thomas Kirkman, the jury deliberated just one hour and delivered its verdict at 2:40 pm.
The young woman who had accused Mr. Frame of indecent assault cried silently when the verdict was announced, and swiftly exited the Dukes County Courthouse with her family.
Mr. Frame and his wife, Janice Frame, a retired regional high school art teacher who supported him throughout the trial, embraced in a prolonged hug.
Lawyers John A. Amabile of Brockton and Robert Moriarty of Edgartown represented Mr. Frame. “I think the jury got it right, and we’re happy that they paid attention to the evidence,” Mr. Moriarty told The Times following the trial. Mr. Amabile said he was “grateful to the jury for reaching the just verdict.”
Cape and Islands Assistant District Attorney Laura Marshard prosecuted the case for the commonwealth. She declined to comment on the case.
Mr. Frame, a widely respected community leader and student mentor, had only recently retired after a 23-year teaching career when he was arrested on August 29, 2013, on two charges of assaulting a former student, for whom he had acted as a mentor.
Mr. Frame is the founder and leader of Young Brothers to Men, a group that pairs high schoolers with mentors from the Island and focuses on community service efforts that develop leadership skills among young African-American students.
Phony charges
Often combative, Mr. Amabile presented the majority of the defense. In his closing statement, he said that the witnesses who testified did not corroborate the victim’s police statement, and that her own testimony was inconsistent.
He said phone records did not support the victim’s claim of repeated text and phone messages from Mr. Frame. “This is not a parlor game,” Mr. Amabile told jurors. He urged jurors not to render a verdict based on sympathy and referred to the charges as “phony.”
Mr. Amabile repeatedly told jurors the victim had lied to them. He referred to parts of her testimony as “bologna,” and questioned her demeanor on the witness stand, which he said varied from giddiness to tears. He said the victim’s mother dragged her into this process against her will.
Consistent evidence
Assistant District Attorney Laura Marshard countered in her closing statements that though there were smaller inconsistencies, such as whether the victim wore a jacket during one of the incidents, the overall evidence was consistent with the timelines presented.
Ms. Marshard told jurors that the witnesses called had nothing to win or lose in the case. She rebuffed claims by the defense that the student was infatuated with her teacher. She said Mr. Frame was the one who harbored inappropriate feelings.
Notwithstanding a parade of witnesses who praised Mr. Frame’s character and his reputation as an upstanding, involved Island community member, he still had the capacity to commit illegal acts, she said.
Inappropriate
According to the police report, Mr. Frame, 65 at the time, invited the 18-year-old 2013 graduate to his house on June 27, 2013. During that visit, Mr. Frame briefly touched her inappropriately, according to the report.
Three days later, Mr. Frame asked her to come to his house again, this time to help tutor another student, police said. When she arrived, there was no one else in the house. The victim told police Mr. Frame began to remove her shirt, and repeatedly touched her inappropriately in a way that left her confused and afraid.
According to the police report, the victim’s mother told police Mr. Frame repeatedly called and texted the young woman following the incidents, but she did not respond. The victim’s mother told police that Mr. Frame then approached her daughter where she worked as a town lifeguard. The victim’s mother notified police on August 28, 2013. The victim provided police with a 17-page statement detailing the encounters.
Police arrested Mr. Frame at his house the next day. He was released on $500 bail.
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