A Butler School District teacher has been cleared of charges he molested two girls last summer.

Having heard four days of evidence, ajury on Thursday found Joshua Taylor, 27, not guilty of indecent assault, endangering the welfare of children and corruption of minors.

"I'm happy that it turned out the way it did,"an emotional Taylor said immediately after the verdict.

Taylor, who has been suspended from his job at Emily Britan Elementary School since his arrest, said he will seek to be reinstated.

"I definitely still want to be involved in children's' lives and be a positive role model,"Taylor said.

In addition to teaching school, Taylor formerly was a youth soccer referee, and has worked at Butler County Children's Center and the United States Space Camp in Florida.

His attorney Alexander Linsay said the case caused "a profound tragedy with this fine young man. ... It's been a year in purgatory."

Hired as a nanny by the Watson family of Adams Township, Taylor said he took the family's two children on numerous summer outings.

The girls who raised the allegations, ages 11 and 12, were not members of the Watson family.

There have been no allegations in relation to the Watson children. On the contrary, Kelley Watson testified on Taylor's behalf.

The two girls who raised the allegations formerly were friends of Watson's daughter.