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After a two-day trial filled with many delays, Christopher Yoder was found not guilty on 22 charges, including statutory and institutional sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault and unlawful contact with a minor related to alleged inappropriate sexual relationship with a student during the 2011-12 school year.
The courtroom was packed for the reading of the verdict rendered by eight men and two women before presiding Judge Ryan Tira.
The charges stemmed from an allegation made by a former student who reported that Yoder had sexually assaulted her after he became her math teacher 12 years ago.
Friday's proceedings began with Agent Brittany Alexander, of the Williamsport Police Department, being called to the stand.
Alexander stated the lack of evidence for the time period of the alleged assault was due to the deletion of email accounts, and the destruction of the accuser's phone by the FBI, who had seized it in an unrelated case, but ultimately did not perform an extraction of the data.
Assistant District Attorney Phoebe Yates then questioned Alexander as to what grooming typically entails, with Alexander explaining that groomers often focus on vulnerable individuals, taking small steps along the way, in order to achieve their final goal.
With Yoder deciding against taking the stand in his own defense, the defense called a single witness, who was present during a dinner in October 2020, about which the alleged victim testified previously.
The witness confirmed much of the accuser's account, however, stated that there were only two vehicles present, his, and that of an additional friend, with whom Yoder and the alleged victim left in together.
The witness told the jury that he never witnessed Yoder's vehicle that night.
The alleged victim's story does not make sense, Defense Attorney Kyle Rude said, citing the delay from when the alleged acts took place to when they were ultimately reported. The prosecution presented no evidence to back up the accuser's story, according to Rude.
Rude told the jury, stressing that despite testimony from another of the alleged victim's teachers that he had made "an unofficial report," that no evidence of this report was found in Yoder's personnel file.
Additionally, the accuser was unable to give any identifying information about the vehicle the alleged assault took place in, and no witness ever came forward to testify that she had told them about the incident, Rude said.
Using the accuser's words against her, Rude agreed that she was "really messed up in the head," because she "came forward with false allegations against a teacher she idolized."
"But being messed up in the head does not entitle her to sympathy" for bringing false charges against Yoder, he said.
Rude stressed to the jury that it was unlikely that Yoder would go to the trouble of grooming the accuser to stop his abuse after only three incidents, only pick back up nine years later, positing that she chose that time period due to the lack of evidence that would exist after such a long time.
Rude called the accuser's reasons for not coming forward "flimsy," as he went over the various reasons given at trial.
"Your job is not done, the hardest part is just beginning and the hardest part will be to find Christopher Yoder innocent on all charges," Rude told the jury. "If you cannot find the accuser's testimony believable, you must find him innocent."
The alleged victim came forward 10 years later because she found the courage to report an assault that happened when she was 13-years-old. An eighth grader, Assistant District Attorney Phoebe Yates said, addressing defense arguments head on.
"Coming forward at 13 with allegations against your favorite teacher is hard, and you heard the testimony, she did not know who to turn to," Yates said.
The accuser was a vulnerable child, she told the jury.
"And, so what did she do?" Yates asked rhetorically. "She followed her favorite teacher's instructions."
The motive offered by the defense of a jilted lover was unreasonable, Yates said, stressing that making up such allegations out of revenge over a one night stand made no sense.
Emails admitted as evidence show that the two had a prior "relationship, if you want to call it that," Yates told the jury, reminding them that there was talk of Yoder's possible divorce, as well as discussion of having children together.
"Now you must have the courage to do what is difficult, but right. You must find the courage to tell Christopher Yoder what he did was wrong, that taking advantage of a vulnerable 13-year-old was wrong. Because that's what he did." Yates told the jury before they rendered the verdict.
The not-guilty verdict is the second in just over a year for Yoder, who was exonerated by a jury in November of last year on similar charges made by a separate former student.