A Mississauga high school teacher has been found not guilty of sexually assaulting a student and attempting to solicit a pornographic photo of another.

Gavin McAnally, who was a teacher and soccer coach at St. Francis Xavier Secondary School, was charged with four counts in total, including sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching.

The charges related to two separate incidents, one in the summer of 2016 and the other in February 2017, involving two boys who were students at the Mississauga Catholic school at the time. The two accusers, aged 15 and 17 at the time, have their names protected by a publication ban.

In the decision, which was released Oct. 29, Ontario Superior Court of Justice Judge William LeMay said he had reasonable doubts that McAnally committed the crimes due to “frailties” in the evidence provided by the accusers.

The Crown presented over 100 pages of text messages between McAnally and one of the boys during the trial. Lemay said there was “no doubt” that McAnally had consistent contact with the teenager in 2016 and 2017.

But the judge found that the boy, who accused the teacher of touching his penis, was “inconsistent” on some key details during testimony and not “completely candid” about the number of times he contacted the teacher following the alleged sexual assault.

“This inconsistency raises significant concerns about the reliability of ... evidence on the core events,” LeMay said in his decision.

One of the four counts, a charge involving McAnally allegedly inviting touch for sexual purposes with a minor, was withdrawn by the Crown.

When the charges were filed, McAnally was “suspended immediately, pending the outcome of the charges,” said Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board spokesperson Bruce Campbell in 2017.

Campbell would not comment on whether McAnally had now returned to regular duties. Following the outcome of the trial, Campbell said in an email “this is a personnel-related matter and, as such, would not be something we would discuss.”