Ex-teacher not guilty of touching girl
A FORMER teacher at a Gold Coast private school cried yesterday when he was found not guilty of indecently touching a 15-year-old student.
The jury of eight women and four men took about two hours to acquit the man, who legally cannot be named, of three counts of indecent treatment.
The verdict came after a three-day trial in the Southport District Court.
“I am pleased it is all over,” the teacher said outside court.
The allegations revolved around a complaint the 15year-old female student made in 2015 saying the teacher tried to pull them together in a hug.
Other alleged incidents involved a grab of the thigh and the teacher placing his crotch into her knee.
The teacher was dismissed from the school after an internal investigation found his behaviour was “inappropriate”.
Despite being cleared of criminal wrongdoing, the teacher will not be returning to the classroom any time soon.
Since the charges were laid, the teacher’s registration with the Queensland College of Teachers has been suspended.
The Queensland College of Teachers said in a statement they could not comment on individual cases but there was a number of steps needed to be taken before the teacher could return to the classroom.
“If a teacher, whose registration is suspended because they have been charged with a serious offence – including indecent treatment of a child under 16 – is found to be not guilty of the offence, their suspension is not immediately lifted as a result of them being found not guilty,” it said.
“The Queensland College of Teachers, once it is notified by the Director of Public Prosecutions that the suspended teacher has been acquitted, is required to refer the matter to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal.”
It is then up to QCAT to determine whether the teacher’s registration will be reinstated or other disciplinary action is appropriate. That process is expected to take months.
IF A TEACHER ... IS FOUND TO BE NOT GUILTY, THEIR SUSPENSION IS NOT IMMEDIATELY LIFTED