GROSSE ILE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — You are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. One man says in practicality, that is not how it works.
Christopher Metzger says he sat down with 7 Action News because he wants to clear his name. He was working as a gym teacher at Grosse Ile Middle School, providing for his family, then he was accused of engaging in lewd behavior near a youth practice field. He was charged with indecent exposure and obscene conduct last year.
According to a police report, Michael Nappa, a parent on his son’s sports team who was on the board of the Grosse Ile Youth Recreation Association, reported to police that he saw Metzger masturbating in a truck in the parking lot.
A judge eventually dismissed the charges of indecent exposure due to a lack of evidence and a jury found him not guilty on the obscene conduct charge in January.
Metzger says since he has been wracking his brain to determine why the accusations were even made.
“Maybe they were threatened by my son’s playing time. Their sons were going to lose playing time. Maybe someone didn’t like the way I coached or taught their kid,” said Metzger.
He says he lost his dream job as a gym teacher and coach at Grosse Ile Middle School due to the allegations.
“I am a father. I have two kids. I have student loans. I have bills to pay, a house, not able to pay those things without having a job, it is absolutely devastating,” said Metzger.
“They know they did the wrong thing and we are holding them accountable,” said Arnold Reed, an attorney who is representing Metzger in a lawsuit against witnesses who testified against him and the Grosse Ile Youth Recreation Association.
Attorney Arnold Reed now is representing Metzger as he sues the Grosse Ile Youth Recreation Association and members associated with the complaint. He says witnesses changed stories about what they saw, where Metzger was parked, and what happened during the trial.
“It makes you wonder with this type of inconsistency, with this type of tom-foolery, why the prosecutor even entertained anything like this,” said Reed.
The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office said it had no comment on this pending litigation.
Metzger says the hardest thing is how going through this has impacted his wife and children.
“It has wrecked my life,” he said.
