Former bursar found not guilty of sex charges

Gerald Smith, former bursar of the University of King’s College, has been cleared of sex charges filed against him in spring 2012, reports the Chronicle Herald.
Smith was charged with sexual assault, indecent assault and committing and act of gross indecency for events alleged to have happened in the 1980s with a boy in his care.
The Herald reports Justice Glen McDougall delivered a not guilty verdict after seeing discrepancies in the complainant’s recollections of events.
Smith took the position of bursar in 1990, a role that came with equivalent responsibilities to a university vice-president of finance. He was put on administrative leave in March 2012, following the sex charges.
King’s hired Jim Fitzpatrick to take over Smith’s duties while on leave.
In November 2012, the board of governors fired Smith, and his old job was split into two. Fitzpatrick was hired as the new bursar, and Alex Doyle hired as the facilities director. Board chair John Hamm did not, at the time, say why Smith was let go, though King’s interim president George Cooper has said his dismissal was unrelated to the sex charges.