A sophomore at Sparrows Point Senior High School testified yesterday that her honors chemistry teacher fondled her breasts in class Sept. 22 after she asked him a question during a science lab.
"He was, like, in back of me and he put his hands on my shoulders, and as he was explaining it to me, he moved his hands down my back," the 15-year-old told a Baltimore County Circuit Court jury. "He moved them forward, and back and forth a couple of times to the sides of my breasts."
Thomas D. Cauffield, 34, of the 200 block of Maiden Choice Lane, Catonsville, is charged with child abuse, a fourth-degree sex offense and three lesser counts.
His attorney, Thomas C. Morrow, said in his opening statement, "Yes, Mr. Cauffield may well have put hands on [her] shoulders," but he asked for "a verdict of not guilty because these events did not occur."
He agreed with a statement by Assistant State's Attorney John P. Cox that "this, plain and simply, is a credibility case."
Mr. Morrow said the students resented the new science teacher because "he pushed them. . . . Every single student in that class by the fifth day of school had an F."
Mr. Cauffield was placed on administrative leave after the girl and another 10th-grader made similar allegations three days apart.
In pretrial motions yesterday, Judge Dana M. Levitz granted a defense motion for a separate trial on five charges involving the second girl. He ruled that trying the cases together would be too prejudicial.
The lab partner and best friend of the 15-year-old testified: "He was like rubbing her shoulder, and he like came down, touching the sides of her chest."
Later, she said, she and other friends "told [the girl] she had to tell somebody. We just kept bothering her about it the whole lunch period and next class."
The girl went that day to gym teacher Linda D. Day. Ms. Day testified that she reported the girl's account to Principal Margaret Spicer. Dr. Spicer said she called the police.
Detective Daniel G. Miller said he interviewed Mr. Cauffield on Sept. 23 and that the teacher first said he had only rubbed the girl's shoulders, then said that if he had touched her breast, it was unintentional. He then reverted to denying that anything had happened, the detective said.
In a Sept. 29 statement, the teacher lamented "the cultural difference between Florida and Maryland, and said he was sorry about moving north," Detective Miller said.
Under cross-examination by Mr. Morrow, the alleged victim said she saw a video on sexual harassment in the next period after that chemistry class.
The alleged victim and her friend left the witness stand in tears after Mr. Morrow confronted them with a series of failing grades. But both said they were unaware of those grades in the first weeks of school and that each received a B for the quarter. They denied any animosity toward Mr. Cauffield.
"I thought he was a good teacher," the alleged victim said. "I had no problem with Mr. Cauffield."