Stonehill Student Hopes To Get Life Back After Dropped Rape Charge
EASTON (CBS) - Weeks of uncertainty now have a certain ending for Kevin Treseler as he returns to Stonehill College, the heavy weight of a rape charge lifted.
"I know it's important for me to get my reputation back," he tells WBZ-TV. "But I think of everyone else around me, I feel for them too."
On Wednesday a Plymouth County grand jury failed to indict Treseler, who was charged with sexually assaulting an eight-year-old girl at the Angelo Elementary School in Brockton, where he was working as a tutor.
The decision means the charges will not be prosecuted in court. According to Bridget Norton Middleton, a spokeswoman for district attorney Timothy Cruz, "without additional information the matter is closed."
WBZ-TV's Beth Germano reports
The ordeal is technically over for Treseler, but emotionally he says, "there's no way to know yet." He calls it a surreal experience standing in a defendant's booth facing the charges and then watching it play out in the media over and over again.
"I lived it, I spent a night in jail. I was arraigned and came home and saw it all over again. I still couldn't believe it," he said.
His mother Eileen says strong family support kept them going. "We knew him, we believed him, we just knew he was innocent from the get-go," she said.
His father Paul says he had simple, but certain advice for son. "I said to him, 'you didn't do anything wrong. Nothing can happen to you'," he said.
Why police showed up at Stonehill on March 21st and took him into custody, Kevin Treseler still doesn't understand.
He says never directly taught the young girl who was part of a group in the classroom where the teacher was always present. He worries the charge, even though dismissed, is like a scarlet letter.
"I hope people can look past what they see or hear and see me, and see me now the way things have turned out," he said.
The 21-year-old college junior studying business and languages says he now wants to concentrate on catching up at Stonehill College, which had suspended him after the arrest but invited him back.
"We look forward to helping Kevin reintegrate into college life and to supporting him as he makes that transition," according to a college statement.
Treseler also wants to catch up on his life that was on hold. "I get to go back to school to continue my education as best I can. I hope things are normal again," he said.
