EXCLUSIVE 

A swimming teacher who was cleared of sexually assaulting nine young girls after two highly publicised criminal trials has returned to the pool to coach adults.

Kyle Daniels quit Sydney for a new life in Queensland after walking free from court and has now found work with Masters Swimming as an assistant coach.

Mr Daniels has been with the sporting body – which promotes swimming for all ages over 18 – since last August and has also been doing part-time bar work. 

The 26-year-old appeared happy and healthy when he was spotted last week with his identical twin brother Liam at Noosa Heads on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. 

The siblings were photographed walking along Hastings Street before ducking into a beachside hotel, then having lunch at Bistro C on the Noosa boardwalk.

Mr Daniels was wearing a T-shirt recognising his participation in the GWM Ironman Western Australia competition held in Busselton in December 2023. 

In a profile posted on a Masters Swimming website, Mr Daniels describes himself as ‘a young exercise and strength and conditioning coach’.

‘I am an IRONMAN athlete, marathon runner and ex-powerlifter who loves to spend as much of my own time training as possible,’ the profile states. 

A swimming teacher who was cleared of sexually assaulting nine young girls after two highly publicised criminal trials has returned to the pool to coach adults. Kyle Daniels is pictured at Noosa on the Queensland Sunshine Coast this month 

Mr Daniels (right) appeared happy and healthy when he was spotted with his identical twin brother Liam (left) on Hastings Street in Noosa. The 26-year-olds had lunch at nearby Bistro C

Mr Daniels (right) appeared happy and healthy when he was spotted with his identical twin brother Liam (left) on Hastings Street in Noosa. The 26-year-olds had lunch at nearby Bistro C

‘Masters Swimming Queensland (MSQ) has been the perfect place to gain experience in using some of the knowledge I have to coach athletes. 

‘It’s allowed me to watch and learn from experienced coaches while also allowing me to develop my own coaching abilities. 

‘I am absolutely loving the work myself and the other coaches are doing at MSQ and I’m so excited to see what we can do in the future.’ 

The former Knox Grammar prefect’s fresh start comes more than two years after he was cleared of sexually assaulting nine swimming students.

He has always strenuously denied ever intentionally touching any child inappropriately.

Mr Daniels endured a seven-week trial in 2020 and another which ran for ten weeks in 2022 before the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions decided not to proceed with a third.

He was arrested in March 2019 after the parents of two girls raised concerns about his conduct at Mosman Swim Centre on Sydney’s lower north shore.

The Sydney University student, then aged 20, was originally accused of assaulting two students aged six and eight during private swim lessons at the school.

Mr Daniels was arrested in 2019 after the parents of two girls raised concerns about his conduct at a swim school on Sydney 's lower north shore. He is pictured with mother Janine

Mr Daniels was arrested in 2019 after the parents of two girls raised concerns about his conduct at a swim school on Sydney ‘s lower north shore. He is pictured with mother Janine

Mr Daniels (right) was pictured wearing a T-shirt recognising his participation in the GWM Ironman Western Australia competition held in Busselton in December 2023

Mr Daniels (right) was pictured wearing a T-shirt recognising his participation in the GWM Ironman Western Australia competition held in Busselton in December 2023

His arrest prompted more girls to come forward with allegations Mr Daniels had touched them on or near their genitals between February 2018 and February 2019.

Mr Daniels was at one time facing 56 charges but 33 of those were dropped in September 2019.

He pleaded not guilty at his first trial to eight counts of sexual intercourse with a child under ten, nine counts of indecent assault and six counts of intentionally sexually touching a child.

The 26 counts on the indictment – which included three alternative or ‘back-up’ charges – related to nine girls aged five to ten.

A NSW District Court jury acquitted Mr Daniels of five of the most serious offences in December 2020 but could not reach verdicts on the remaining 21.

A fresh jury acquitted Mr Daniels of ten charges in October 2022 but was discharged after stating there was no prospect of agreeing on the remaining 11 counts.

Defence lawyers had argued that swim school parents lied and changed their evidence in a bid to convict Mr Daniels, after mistakenly believing he had abused their daughters.

Mr Daniels told the court that while he was under arrest, some police officers referred to him as ‘a disgusting paedo’ and joked about what would happen to him in jail.

The DPP announced in December 2022 there would be no third trial.

Mr Daniels (right) grew up on Sydney's northern beaches with twin brother Liam (left). The brothers are so physically alike as to be almost indistinguishable

Mr Daniels (right) grew up on Sydney’s northern beaches with twin brother Liam (left). The brothers are so physically alike as to be almost indistinguishable 

Mr Daniels has always strenuously denied ever intentionally touching any child inappropriately. He is pictured right with brother Liam on Hastings Street at Noosa Heads

Mr Daniels has always strenuously denied ever intentionally touching any child inappropriately. He is pictured right with brother Liam on Hastings Street at Noosa Heads

Despite having been cleared of committing any criminal offence, Mr Daniels was pursued by police who sought restraining orders against the 24-year-old on behalf of five of the girls.

Those apprehended violence order applications were finally withdrawn and dismissed before a magistrate at Downing Centre Local Court in May 2023.

Mr Daniels’s legal team had been extremely critical of the way police conducted his arrest at his parents’ home in Balgowlah on Sydney’s northern beaches.

His barrister, Leslie Nicholls, claimed at Mr Daniels’s second trial the arrest had been staged to make it more ‘newsworthy’.

Mr Nicholls said his client had been handcuffed and ‘paraded’ down the street for a police media camera crew, which ‘presented a negative image in the public’.

‘Was it arranged that he was going to be taken all the way down that road?’ Mr Nicholls asked in court. ‘I say yes.

‘That’s what this was about. So the police could give that news footage to the media… with a view to having an appeal for further victims.’

Mr Nicholls noted most of the charges against Mr Daniels were laid after his arrest was broadcast and parents asked their children if he had touched them.

Kyle Daniel's father posted this photo of himself and twins sons Kyle and Liam on Manly beach in Sydney gushing that he had 'A very happy heart. Pure happiness and love. My boys!'

Kyle Daniel’s father posted this photo of himself and twins sons Kyle and Liam on Manly beach in Sydney gushing that he had ‘A very happy heart. Pure happiness and love. My boys!’

‘It’s clear that the parents were influenced by what they saw in the media,’ he said. ‘It caused all of them anxiety and concern for their children.

‘Being so influenced, they then influenced their children in the way that they questioned them, raising “he’s done something bad – he’s hurt children”.

‘The media footage… had a real practical effect on the unreliability and influence of the complainants.’

Mr Daniels has kept a low profile since he was cleared of the offences and has not spoken publicly about his four-year ordeal.

His parents, James and Janine, steadfastly supported him through the legal proceedings and James celebrated his son’s exoneration in January 2023.

In a post beside a photo of himself with his arms around the shoulders of his sons at Manly beach, James wrote on Instagram: ‘A very happy heart.’

‘For all who know, this is the best Christmas this dad could have ever wished for. Pure happiness and love. My boys!’

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