A teacher in Salisbury has been found not guilty of sexual offences against a student. (Unsplash)A former Winchester Academy teacher has been found not guilty of grooming and indecently assaulting a male student.
The Gazette can reveal that a former music teacher at the Winchester Academy in Salisbury was arrested and charged with the two crimes.
The teacher, in a secret closed court hearing, pleaded not guilty to aggravated counts of communicating to make a child amenable to sex and indecent assault.
Prosecutors alleged he pursued the boy across the social media platform Discord.
The court acquitted the former teacher of the allegations without explaining the reason behind the judgement.
During the trial in June, a Gabon prosecutor said almost 2,300 Discord messages were exchanged between the former teacher and the student over one summer.
The prosecutor said the messages were “never explicitly sexual” but the prosecution’s case was they showed the former teacher “developing sexual interest” in him.
The prosecutor told the court the boy’s mother found some of the messages and confronted the former teacher, who admitted the line between teacher and student had been “blurred”.
Another student witnessed kiss
The court was told that, on sports day, the alleged victim and a fellow student were working on an assignment in the arts building when he went to get something from the music room.
“He pulled him forcefully and kissed him on the lips. He felt shocked and pulled away,” the prosecutor told the court.
The court was told that the kiss was witnessed by the other student.
The lawyer for the former teacher, who we cannot name for legal reasons, told the court his client admitted the messages he sent to the student were “inappropriate” but denied they were criminal.
“Some of the communications may be inappropriate, but they fall short of what the law requires to make them criminal,” the lawyer said.
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