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 wasfound 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.
