LEE COUNTY, Fla. — The former Canterbury School teacher and lacrosse coach, accused of lewd contact with a minor and possession of child pornography, could be facing more charges.
In a Lee County courtroom on Thursday afternoon, prosecutors said they will be filing amended information with more charges against Thomas Deane.
Back in December 2021, the Lee County Sheriff's Office says Deane had lewd contact with a minor over social media. The child's parent reported it in February 2022.
After Deane's arrest in April 2022, detectives say they discovered child pornography on four laptops, a phone and a hard drive a month later.
Deane has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Prosecutors on Thursday said they offered to resolve both cases, but says Deane has not accepted the offers with a deadline of Thursday.
In the courtroom during a trial call, Deane hired new attorneys. Because of this, his new attorney asked for a continuance to look at evidence with Deane.
The judge approved the request and ordered another court date of August 10 at 1:30 p.m.
Though Deane did not accept the offer from state attorneys, he still has a chance of not going to trial.
"However, we did agree, if it’s okay with the court, to open negotiations again to the amended information," a state attorney said.
In the court documents the state attorney's office plans to file, it's not clear what the charges will be. However, the prosecutor says they did look at evidence with detectives about two weeks ago.
As Fox 4 was leaving the courtroom, Deane approached our crew and asked us to not cover his case.
