DENVER -- A Denver prosecutor has dismissed the charges against a former teacher and Montebello basketball coach accused of sexually assaulting a 7-year-old boy.
26-year-old Ibn Shabazz was charged in February with sexual assault on a child and sexual assault on a child by a person of trust.
The District Attorney's Office decided to dismiss the charges after the prosecutor "felt she could no longer prove it unanimously to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt," said Lynn Kimbrough, a spokesperson with the DA's office.
"My name was slandered and I lost my job doing what I love doing," Shabazz said in a video he posted on Facebook moments after he learned the charges had been dismissed. "The odds were against me every way, every way, shape and form."
"How would you describe the last eight months of your life," Denver7 Reporter Jennifer Kovaleski asked Shabazz.
"A whirlwind to say the least. To be honest, words couldn't really fathom." he said.
Shabazz said a family dispute gone bad is what lead to him being falsely accused.
"This was my stepson's father who started this false allegation," he said. "It was a family dispute that went bad as opposed to communication."
The allegations cost him everything in an instant. Shabazz said he lost his job as a teacher and his ability to coach high school basketball at the DSST Green Valley Ranch campus. Shabazz also said he got kicked out of his graduate program.
"Are you guilty," asked Kovaleski.
"Absolutely not, absolutely not," he said.
"What do you want people to know about you?" asked Kovaleski.
"I want people to know that I'm a God-fearing, good dude," Shabazz replied.
Throughout it all -- spending time in jail and having to wear an ankle bracelet -- he said he found a way to stay positive.
"Not only day by day, but minute by minute - you literally have to figure out how to make it to the next minute," said Shabazz.
He said he's now focused on moving forward.
"I slept OK for the first time in a long time," said Shabazz. "I have to start over - I think that maybe ok, maybe it's just a new beginning."
The DA's office said the charges could be re-filed at a later date.
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