Limo driver charged with buying students liquor-Boyd Christian students reportedly partied on way back from Nashville

A limousine driver has entered not guilty pleas to 13 counts of contributing to the delinquency of minors after prosecutors say he provided alcohol to several Boyd Christian School students as they were returning from their senior field trip.
However, the defense for accused limo driver, Christopher S. Baril, 36, of Manchester, says it was the students who purchased their own alcohol and then had a loud party in the back of the limousine on the way back from Nashville. The defense believes the students are blaming the limo driver so they won’t get into trouble.
Baril entered not guilty pleas before Circuit Court Judge Bart Stanley on Wednesday and remains free on bond.
The charges against the limo driver stem from an incident which occurred on April 18 of this year during the annual Boyd Christian School class trip for a cruise aboard the General Jackson Showboat in Nashville. It was the return trip which lawmen say brought about the charges.
Specifically, sheriff’s investigator Jim Hartman says Baril, who reportedly asked the students to call him ‘Big Sexy,’ stopped at Donelson Liquors and bought alcohol which was later given to some of the students, presumably because Baril was paid to make the purchase.
‘Sixty dollars was passed to the front of the limousine,’ Hartman said in the warrants against Baril. ‘He stopped at Donelson Liquors and purchased a 750 ml. bottle of Everclear and a one liter bottle of Country Club vodka for $30. No change was passed to the students.’
Hartman said there was also beer in the front of the limo which was passed to the back and that some of the students took the remaining alcohol with them when they were dropped off on the campus of Boyd Christian.
According to Sheriff Jackie Matheny, he was called by a parent of one of the students who told him about the incident to prompt the investigation.
‘There was some, but not all of them, who were supposedly drinking,’ said Matheny, noting Hartman has obtained surveillance footage from Donelson Liquor supposedly capturing Baril buying the alcohol. ‘These were good kids with a bad limo driver.’
Meanwhile, defense attorney Bud Sharp says it was the opposite and that the students were the ones who initiated the alcohol party.
‘My client was working as a limo driver as an extra job to help make ends meet,’ said Sharp, noting his client says it was one of the students who made the purchase after they asked to stop a nearby strip mall to use the restroom. ‘There were 13 students, so many that one had to ride up front. He said it got so crazy in the back that he had to roll up the barrier between the back and front to concentrate because he was driving through a bad storm. He said the kids acted like a bunch of brats.’
The Boyd Christian administration had no comment on the incident and did not reveal if any disciplinary action was taken against the students.