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An Invercargill schoolteacher accused of indecent acts with two former pupils has been cleared by a jury.
After deliberating for less than four hours, the jury cleared Paul Alexander Conner, a 42-year-old teacher at New River Primary, at Invercargill District Court yesterday, the Southland Times reported.
He was found not guilty of one charge of doing an indecent act on an 11-year-old boy and four charges of doing indecent acts on another boy aged between 11 and 13.
Following the not-guilty verdicts, Conner acknowledged the difficulty he would have returning to teaching despite the outcome of the trial.
"I think it would be a great risk going back to the teaching situation because I have had these allegations put against me," he said.
He said it had been a devastating time for him and his family and he was "just relieved".
During the trial, the boys said Conner had played a "slavery" game with them at different times on his farm during the school holidays.
They alleged the game involved a hide-and-seek scenario with toy guns and when Conner caught them he would touch their private parts while frisking them for weapons, loosely tie them up and lead them to a barn where he rubbed himself against them.
Conner denied ever touching the boys inappropriately or rubbing against them.
- NZPA
