A swim teacher who was found not guilty of assaulting nine young girls — and saw other charges dismissed — has resurfaced in a gushing Instagram post from his father.
Kyle Daniels, 24, has not been seen in public since December, when 11 charges of allegedly sexually assaulting young girls were dropped by Sydney Downing Center court.
The Instagram post featuring a photo of him smiling alongside his father, James, and identical twin brother, Liam, was taken after his three-year legal battle ended.
However, the arrest warrants for violence issued against Daniels by five young girls are still in effect.
They were adjourned until mid-May, but neither the prosecutor nor Daniels’ attorney, Urania Zafiris, could say whether the AVOs would be dropped now that he was acquitted.
The two trials against Daniels – who taught at the Mosman Swim Center on Sydney’s exclusive lower north coast – ended with the jury acquitting some of the charges and then being dismissed both times because he was unable to reach a verdict on the others.
This marked the end of a long trial in the courts for Mr Daniels, who strenuously denied ever intentionally touching a student inappropriately.
His father and mother, James and Janine, steadfastly supported him through the 2020 and 2022 hearings and now James has celebrated his son’s acquittal online.
The father of the swimming coach who was subsequently acquitted of sexual assault against young girls posted this photo of himself and his twin sons Kyle and Liam on Sydney’s Manly beach and gushed that he had ‘a very happy heart’. Pure happiness and love. My boys!’
In a post alongside a photo of him beaming in a beach towel with his arms around the shoulders of twin sons Kyle and Liam, 24, James Daniels wrote on Instagram: “A very happy heart.
“For anyone in the know, this is the best Christmas this dad could have ever wished for. Pure happiness and love. My boys!’
The photo, which shows all three on Sydney’s Manly Beach, appears to have been uploaded to James Daniels’ Instagram page in January.
James and Kyle’s behavior in the photo contrasted sharply with the Daniels family’s stoic yet stark calm during the protracted court proceedings.
Kyle was arrested in March 2019 after families of two girls raised concerns with Mosman Swim Center management.
James Daniels’ gushing Instagram post expressing his joy after one of his twin sons, Kyle, has been cleared of all charges of sexually assaulting young girls at the elite Mosman Swim Center
In the Instagram post, their demeanor contrasts sharply with the stoic but stark calmness of the Daniels family (above James, Kyle and Janine) during the lengthy legal process.
The dapper Kyle, then 20 years old, was originally charged with assaulting two girls, six and eight, during private swimming lessons.
The arrest prompted more girls to come forward with allegations of touching or near their genitals between February 2018 and February 2019.
At trial, the Crown alleged that there had been 23 incidents over 13 months that showed a pattern of behavior in which Mr Daniels brutally abused the students in his care for his sexual gratification.
Mr Daniels’ defense argued that the swim school parents lied and altered their evidence in an attempt to convict him, after they mistakenly believed he had abused their daughters.
A court has learned that if all allegations are dismissed, Daniels will never stand trial a third time on charges of sexual assault.
Kyle Daniels leaves court with his mother Janine on November 25, 2020
Kyle Daniels is seen with his mother Janine reporting to Manly Police Station in April 2019
Janine Daniels waits outside Emu Plains Prison on March 20, 2019 for her son to be released on bail at the start of the legal ordeal that has now ended
Mr Daniels’ lawyer, Urania Zafiris, said the decision to drop another trial was ‘completely appropriate’ and that her client would demand that prosecutors pay the costs of his defence.
“Mr. Daniels has always maintained that he is innocent of all charges related to these matters,” she said. “The jury verdicts and the decision to drop are a perfectly appropriate outcome consistent with that innocence.”
Mr Daniels also told the court that while he was being arrested, some police officers called him ‘a disgusting pedo’ and joked about what would happen to him in prison.