LEESBURG, Va. — A fired Loudoun County teacher has been vindicated.
Kimberly Winters was accused in 2018 of having sex with one of her underage students. But those charges were eventually dropped for lack of evidence.
Now, a Loudoun County jury has awarded her a $5 million verdict against the sheriff’s deputy who investigated her.
It took a jury at the Leesburg courthouse just two hours to rule in favor of the former Loudoun County Public Schools teacher. Jurors found Sheriff’s Deputy Peter Roque maliciously prosecuted Winters, that he wrongly charged her with taking indecent liberties with a child in her care at Park View High School, and that he accused her with malice and without probable cause.
“She never had sex with any student, let alone this child,” Winter's lawyer, Thomas Plofchan Jr, said.
The Commonwealth’s Attorney dropped the charges in 2019, but Winters told jurors the allegation destroyed her life. She lost her job and her career. It took her years to find a new employment, at much less than she earned as a teacher. She spent thousands of dollars on therapy, and had to sell her home and move out of the county out of public humiliation.
Plofchan says despite the verdict, his client will l never be able to fully recover her reputation, saying "you can’t erase the internet."
"As [Winters] explained to the jury, 'I will have to explain to my future partner that I’m not a pedophile,'" Plofchan said of his client's future. "Or if she’s blessed with children, ‘Why are their pictures with mom in an orange jumpsuit?' Any future employer will be able to look on the internet, just doing a background check, and then she's going to be compelled to explain."
Even Roque’s lawyer, Alexander Francuzenko, admitted the 18-year-old student whose allegations the detective used was a “confused and conflicted” young man.
Plofchan said the deeply troubled teen and his mom presented an “unbelievable, unsubstantiated, and inconsistent story.” But the detective never checked it out.
“There was no investigation of neighbors, no calling of family, no talking to anyone at the school,” Plofchan said.
Neither Roque nor his lawyer offered any comment Monday.
Michele Bowman, a spokeswoman for the sheriff's office wrote in an email, "As an appeal and further litigation is anticipated, it would be inappropriate for the [Loudoun County Sheriff's Office] to make any comments at this time."
But Plofchan said the verdict will allow Winters to start rebuilding her life.