ST. LOUIS (AP) - A former St. Louis-area principal has been found not guilty of lewd conduct, but the verdict came far too late to save his job.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/RbJshA) reports Jim Walters was cited in March by a ranger in Forest Park who said he saw the Mehlville School District principal grab his genitals while talking to a person in a car March 16.
But Judge Joseph Murphy says the ranger changed his story, and that video evidence from a parking lot contradicted the ranger's story that Walters and the car's driver met briefly there after initial contact.
Walters was placed on leave after getting the citation, and the school board voted to terminate his contract in June and hire a new principal.