A Lexington Massachusetts man arrested after demanding that school officials inform him before his son's kindergarten class discussed homosexuality has reached an agreement with state prosecutors to have his case dismissed without an admission of guilt, his lawyer said yesterday.David Parker, 42, was arrested and charged with trespassing at Joseph Estabrook Elementary School in Lexington on April 27, after he refused to leave until school officials assured him that he would be notified in advance of any teaching about homosexuality.
Parker's trial on a criminal trespassing charge is scheduled to start this morning in Concord District Court, but his lawyer, Jeffrey Denner of Boston, said the office of Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley had agreed not to pursue the case. Using a provision in state law, the judge will order the case delayed, and it will eventually be dropped, Denner said.
The procedure is different from the more commonly used ''continued without a finding," in which a defendant admits that sufficient facts exist to warrant a conviction and the case is eventually dropped, Denner said. Parker will make no admissions or plea, Denner said. ''The government does not want to go forward with this," he said.
Melissa Sherman, a spokeswoman for Coakley, declined to comment on the case before today's hearing. ''We won't comment on a proceeding that hasn't happened yet," she said.
Parker has apparently reached an agreement with state prosecutors, but Denner said his standoff with Lexington school officials continues. Lexington's superintendent of schools, Paul B. Ash, has continued to ban Parker from school property, Denner said.
School officials could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Parker's case, which was reported on ABC's ''World News Tonight" last night, has become a center of controversy in Lexington, where his supporters and opponents have held rallies.
from Boston.com
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