WINTERSET, Iowa- A longtime educator and Polk City mother accused of assaulting a teen boy at a track meet has been found not guilty of the crime.
Dr. Ashley Delaney, 43, was acquitted on Wednesday after a short trial in Madison County. She had been charged with assault after an incident invovling a 14-year-old boy at a May 1 middle school track meet held at Winterset High School.
The incident in question stemmed from an interaction near the high jump area. A police affidavit states Delaney, who was attending from the visiting school, “grabbed” the teen by the sleeve and moved him by pulling in an effort to get him to help move nearby blocks. Delaney did not know the teen. In a sit-down interview with WHO 13’s Katie Kaplan, Delaney described the touch as a “tug” on the sleeve, and denied that the interaction was aggressive or harmful. The teen’s family maintains Delaney shoved and grabbed him.
Delaney provided WHO 13 with the following statement after the verdict was rendered:…