A former boarding school director has lost his second appeal before the Iowa Supreme Court seeking to overturn his conviction for mistreating and sexually abusing students.
Benjamin Trane, owner of the Midwest Academy in Keokuk, was convicted in 2017 of assaulting and sexually exploiting a female student and was sentenced to nine years in prison. The school served about 100 students, many with histories of behavioral or substance-abuse issues, until it was shut down in 2016 after officials investigating widespread abuse allegations raided the property.
Trane appealed his conviction, arguing that the court failed to consider evidence that the minor victim had made other false claims of sexual abuse. In 2019, the Supreme Court ruled that Trane was entitled to a hearing to determine whether the juvenile girl had indeed made other false claims, and that if so, he was entitled to a new trial.
As detailed in a new Supreme Court decision, issued Friday, the district judge did so. The court heard testimony from the girl, who alleged that she had been physically and sexually abused by her adoptive and foster parents, and from the parents, who denied her claims. The judge ruled Trane had failed to prove that "by a preponderance of the evidence, (the victim) made false allegations of sexual abuse against her adoptive parents or the foster parents” and denied his request for a new trial.
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