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

A jury remains divided on close to half of the charges facing ex-swim teacher Kyle Daniels over allegations he sexually touched his underage students.

A jury remains spilt on close to half of the charges facing former Sydney swim instructor Kyle Daniels after more than a week of deliberations.

Mr Daniels is on trial over allegations he sexually touched nine underage girls on Sydney’s lower north shore between 2018 and 2019.

On Monday, the jury cleared Mr Daniels of one further count of sexual touching of a child under 10 years of age.

The jury told Judge Kara Shead it was unable to reach a unanimous, or even majority verdict, on 11 remaining charges.

Last week, Mr Daniels was found not guilty on another nine of the charges he was facing.

The 24-year-old was cleared of five counts of sexual intercourse with a child under 10 and three counts 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 six counts of sexual touching of a child and five counts of indecent assault, on which the jury remains undecided and will continue deliberation.

Ex-swimming instructor Kyle Daniels has been cleared of nine out of 21 charges against him. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Swift

Last week, Judge Kara Shead informed the jury she would accept a verdict by majority decision following difficulties reaching unanimous agreement on some of the charges.

On Thursday, one member of the jury was discharged for reasons suppressed by the court leaving eleven members of the public to decide on Mr Daniel’s fate.

Judge Shead instructed the jury to continue deliberations with the aim of reaching a unanimous decision; however, she said the court would accept a verdict if a ratio of at least ten to one was reached.

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.

He pleaded not guilty to all of the charges against him and told the court during evidence he couldn’t remember ever touching any of his students inappropriately.

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

During closing remarks, Mr Nichols added much of the evidence heard against Mr Daniels 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 alleged experiences with Mr Daniels during classes.

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

The court heard 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?”

A parent first approached venue staff about Mr Daniels’ behaviour in July 2018 following a complaint by their daughter, Crown prosecutor Tony 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.