A former substitute teacher has been acquitted of sex charges involving five young girls.
Aleksandr Plehanov was facing 10 counts related to sexual assault and sexual interference and one count of criminal harassment.
Plehanov was accused of inappropriately touching the students between 2008 and 2010. The alleged victims were all in grades 2 and 3, were seven or eight years old at the time of the alleged incidents and came from three different schools.
The Coquitlam School District began investigating Plehanov's actions in October 2009. A parent complained that Plehanov, an on-call teacher, had twice pulled her daughter onto his lap, put his hand under her shirt and rubbed her tummy. In January 2010, the school district made a finding of misconduct, but Plehanov was allowed to continue teaching after seeing a psychologist and a coordinator. Police became involved in March 2010 after a parent from another school alleged that Plehanov had rubbed her daughter's behind.
The judge said that while Plehanov was an ineffectual teacher who ignored the rules of conduct involving contact between teachers and students, the Crown failed to prove the touching was of a sexual nature.
Several witnesses testified that Plehanov was seen putting students on his lap. However, that in itself did not meet the burden of proof. The 13-day trial included testimony from more than 30 witnesses.
