Essex, UK - A priest has been cleared of the sexual abuse of two boys.
Father John McCollough, 63, had been accused of abusing the pair while at Holy Trinity Church in Bury, Greater Manchester, in the 1980s and 1990s.
After a two-week trial at Bolton Crown Court he was found not guilty of 11 charges of indecent assault and one charge of gross indecency.
Mr McCollough, now living in Essex, had told the jury he believed the pair made up the allegations to get compensation.
Both youngsters, now adults, had claimed the priest had abused them by touching them sexually on numerous occasions.
But the jury of seven men and five women, who retired to consider their verdicts on Friday, cleared him of all the charges.
Mr McCollough, of Lymington Avenue, Leigh-on-Sea, is currently a priest at St Vincent's Church in the Essex town.