Toronto pastor Brent Hawkes found not guilty

Prominent Toronto pastor Brent Hawkes has been found not guilty of gross indecency and indecent assault.

A provincial court judge handed down the verdict today in Kentville, Nova Scotia, saying he found significant inconsistencies in the testimony of the witnesses.

Hawkes had pleaded not guilty to the charges which stem from events in the mid-1970s, when Hawkes was a teacher.

The trial heard emotional testimony from a middle-age man who said Hawkes forced oral sex on him in a bedroom when he was about 16 years old.

Hawkes categorically denied the allegations.