Ex-swim instructor Kyle Daniels not guilty on several charges including sexual touching

Ex-swimming instructor Kyle Daniels has been cleared of some of the charges he was facing including sexual touching of underage girls.

Ex-swimming teacher Kyle Daniels has been found not guilty of some of the charges relating to allegations he sexually touched nine underage girls on Sydney’s lower north shore between 2018 and 2019.

On Thursday a jury found Mr Daniels, 24, not guilty on five of the 21 counts he was facing.

The jury remains undecided on the remaining charges and will continue deliberation.

Mr Daniels was cleared of three counts of sexual intercourse with a child under 10, one count of the indecent assault of a person under 16 and one count of the sexual touching of a child under 10 years of age.

Mr Daniels still faces two counts of sexual intercourse with a child aged under 10, seven counts of sexual touching of a child and seven counts of indecent assault, including two considered alternative charges.

The partial verdict follows a two-month trial during which evidence given by the girls and their parents was picked apart by Mr Daniels’ defence team.

It is alleged Mr Daniels touched the girls over or under their swimwear inappropriately under the guise of assisting or correcting their stroke.

Mr Daniels pleaded not guilty to all of the charges against him.

Ex-swimming instructor Kyle Daniels has been cleared of five charges. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Swift

Defence barrister Leslie Nichols claimed any touching considered inappropriate that occurred during lessons could have been “inadvertent”.

During closing remarks, Mr Nichols added that much of the evidence was deeply flawed and could have resulted from the girls being influenced by their parents.

Mr Daniels was first arrested on March 12, 2019, at his parents’ home in Balgowlah in Sydney’s north.

Following the arrest, further victims came forward claiming to have been touched inappropriately by him.

During the trial, the court saw prerecorded evidence from the girls who recounted their experiences with Mr Daniels during classes.

One of the girls told her parents that it “felt like a worm when he did it” and she had “squeezed her legs together for the rest of the lesson so he couldn’t do it again”, Crown prosecutor Tony McCarthy told the court.

Several of the girls reported trying to avoid having their stroke corrected by Mr Daniels, as it made them feel uncomfortable.

Another of the alleged victims told police she thought Mr Daniels had touched her by accident, as she couldn’t understand another motive.

“He accidentally touched my part that you’re not allowed to. He did it twice,” she told police.

“He might have just done it by accident because why would he want to do it on purpose?”

Mr Daniels was supported by his parents (pictured) throughout the two-month trial at Sydney Downing Centre District Court. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard

A parent first approached venue staff about Mr Daniels’ behaviour in July 2018 following a complaint by their daughter, Mr McCarthy told the court in the opening days of the trial.

“I’m not accusing him of anything, I just wanted to raise some red flags,” the parent was quoted as saying.

“I don’t want him to lose his job over this. I don’t know if it was accidental.”

In response, pool management circulated a memo to instructors about not holding children close to the groin or chest.

The court heard other parents who came forward prior to Mr Daniels’ arrest also had doubts as to his intentions.

The father of one of the girls told pool staff he didn’t want to “make a fuss”, as he didn’t witness the alleged abuse himself, the court was told.