This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2005, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
SANDPOINT, Idaho - A Bonner County jury has cleared a teacher of charges that he molested a former student.
After a five-day trial, a jury of seven women and five men acquitted Sigard Allen Jensen on Friday following almost three hours of deliberation.
Jensen, 60, of Athol, was accused of engaging in lewd acts with a minor and committing crimes against nature. He has denied he molested the young man.
''Absolutely not,'' Jensen said when asked by defense attorney Gary Amendola if he had ever sexually abused the student. ''Not once, not ever.''
Jensen had been principal of A Lighthouse and Christ Centered Always Christian Academy, a private school.
