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Former Wake substitute teacher found not guilty on child sex charges

A Wake County jury found a former substitute teacher not guilty Monday on two of three charges stemming from accusations that he inappropriately touched two elementary school students last year.

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WAKE FOREST, N.C. — A Wake County jury found a former substitute teacher not guilty Monday on two of three charges stemming from accusations that he inappropriately touched two elementary school students last year.

Brian Holt Self, 50, was acquitted on one count of indecent liberties with a minor and one count of sex offense with a child in connection with claims that he inappropriately touched the girls – now 7 and 8 – last year at Jones Dairy Elementary School in Wake Forest.

Superior Court Judge Paul Gessner declared a mistrial on a second count of indecent liberties after a jury deadlocked 10-2 on a verdict.

Self worked for the Wake County Public School System as a teaching sub at a number of schools from 2010 until July 2013, when he resigned amid an investigation into the claims after someone saw through a door window a child sitting on his lap during a movie.

He was initially tried on three counts of indecent liberties, but prosecutors last week had to drop one of the charges because one of the girls decided she couldn't testify.

Self took the stand on his own behalf last week, admitting that children sat on his lap. But he denied any inappropriate conduct.

Parents were upset by the jury's decision Monday afternoon.

As Self was leaving the courtroom, a father yelled out, "You're guilty. You're guilty. You're a molester. You're a child molester … I'm going to kill you."

Another parent said he wasn't sure how he was going to explain the trial's outcome to his child.

"Our daughter's first comment when she got off the stand was, 'I did what I was supposed to. I told the truth. Why is he not in jail yet?'" the father said outside the courtroom. "So, to go home tonight and tell her he's not going to jail is something that we have not figured out how to tell her yet."

Assistant District Attorney Melanie Shekita said the state will reconsider whether to re-try Self on the second indecent liberties charge after reviewing the case and speaking with jurors.

"It's difficult. I never want to put a child through (testifying) and then they not feel vindicated," Shekita said. "It's not over."

Self declined to comment on the case's outcome or the potential for a retrial.

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