By Staff Reporter

Last updated at 11:41, Thursday, 29 March 2012

A 19-year-old accused of repeatedly abusing a younger boy has been cleared of all but one of the nine charges he faced.

A jury at Carlisle Crown Court found Christopher Brown, now 19, not guilty of the eight most serious allegations of sexually assaulting the boy when they both lived in Workington a few years ago.

But he was found guilty of one charge – kissing the boy on the lips – and will be sentenced on May 16.

In the meantime he was allowed bail while pre-sentence reports are prepared on him.

Judge Paul Batty QC, who had presided over the three-day trial, told him that even though he had been found not guilty of most of the allegations “this is still a troubling case”.

The prosecution had alleged that Brown’s behaviour started with “a chaste kiss on the cheek” but graduated to inappropriate touching and then to something much more serious.

In evidence Brown admitted hugging and kissing the boy but said he did it only to comfort him when he was going through a bad time at school.

First published at 11:27, Thursday, 29 March 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk