PE teacher freed of charges of sexually assaulting 14-year-old student

A physical education teacher at a St Catherine high school who was accused of sexually touching and kissing a 14-year-old student has been acquitted of indecent assault and sexual touching.

The 27-year-old physical education teacher was freed of the charges on Tuesday after the judge in the St Catherine Parish Court upheld a no-case submission by his lawyers.

Allegations were that on January 31, he lured the complainant from her class to the Physical Education department where he proceeded to indecently assault her without her consent.

He was arrested and charged on March 1, but when he appeared before the court he firmly denied the allegations. 

During the trial, the witnesses who gave evidence for the prosecution were discredited after several inconsistencies and discrepancies were unearthed from their evidence.

The trial judge subsequently agreed with the attorneys representing the accused teacher that based on the numerous material inconsistencies and discrepancies presented in the evidence, the accused man could not be found guilty of the charges and upheld their no-case submission.

The complainant was among the witnesses who gave questionable evidence. During her testimony, she gave conflicting evidence on where on her body the accused had touched her.

She also told the court that she was taken from her classroom to the PE department when the evidence was that she went to the department voluntarily.

The evidence presented during the trial also indicated that the complainant would regularly visit the teacher's office for frivolous reasons which he had reprimanded her about along with certain compliments that she had directed at him.

Attorneys-at-law Terrisha Grant and Kemar Robinson represented the teacher.

Follow The Gleaner on X and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.