Jury finds Tyrone man not guilty of molesting his son

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

A Tyrone man was cleared Wednesday of charges that he molested his son after a Fayette County jury found him not guilty in Superior Court.

Andrew Clayton Vansant, 30, took the stand in his own defense during the two-day trial, claiming he never molested his son. The boy's mother, who is married to another man, had testified that her son told her of the alleged transgression while using the restroom at a Subway restaurant in Peachtree City in Feburary 2002.

The jury saw a videotape of the first forensic interview of the boy, then 5, as he specifically said "Drew" Vansant didn't molest him.

Another expert who later interviewed the boy over a period of time testified that he later admitted that Vansant molested him at Vansant's parent's home in Tyrone. But none of those interviews were taped.

When Vansant testified, he denied molesting his son. In an often heated exchange with Assistant District Attorney Dan Hiatt, Vansant admitted that he had been molested by his grandfather at his grandparents home in East Point when he was a young boy.

Vansant said he kept the incident secret until years later when he revealed it to a youth church group.

"I didn't tell anyone because my grandfather died shortly thereafter," Vansant said.

An expert testifying for the defense said the memories of very young children can be deemed unreliable.

The victim did not testify during the trial, but his mother, Amy Reynolds Waldrop, testified about what he said when he first told her about the alleged molestation.

Waldrop said she thought her son was molested when he visited Vansant on the weekends before Vansant terminated his parental rights in April of 2000.

Vansant said it was a difficult decision to give up parental rights to his son, but he didn't want the child to be confused about who his father was. He said he later regretted the decision after learning Waldrop was with another man who was not her husband.