Jurors deciding the fate of a former Sydney swimming teacher accused of sexually abusing his students have been asked to continue deliberations after saying they could not reach a verdict.
Less than two hours after retiring to consider a verdict about Kyle James Henk Daniels, who is accused of inappropriately touching nine of his students, the jury told the judge they were not able to reach a unanimous decision on any of the charges.
It follows a seven-week trial in which Daniels, 22, pleaded not guilty to 26 charges, including multiple counts of having sexual intercourse with a child under 10 and indecently assaulting a person under 16.
"Experience has shown juries can often agree when given more time to discuss the issues," Judge Kara Shead on Thursday said in the NSW District Court.
She asked the jury members to go back and discuss all the evidence fairly and impartially, and to listen to one another objectively and calmly.
Daniels has vehemently denied touching the girls on or near their genitals while instructing them between February 2018 and February 2019 at a busy Mosman pool on Sydney's north shore.
Earlier Judge Shead reminded the jury there was "no rush" in reaching a decision.
The Crown says Daniels acted brazenly and opportunistically in taking advantage of students under his care, despite the high risk of detection, to fulfil his own sexual interests.
Crown prosecutor Karl Prince said there can be no doubt the 23 incidents over a 13-month period showed a pattern of behaviour seen in the similarities of the alleged victim's evidence.
But Daniels' defence lawyer Leslie Nicholls argued parents lied and changed their evidence in a bid to convict the former swimming instructor after mistakenly believing he had abused their daughters.
The evidence of the girls was unreliable, contaminated, in some cases implausible, and had been influenced by the officer in charge, he said.
