SAN DIEGO -- An elementary school teacher accused of molesting students in February 2003 is a free man after San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis declined to seek a fourth trial.

Thad Jesperson was known as "Mister J" at Toler Elementary School in Clairemont until his arrest in 2003.

He was tried three separate times before being convicted of molesting eight second- and third-grade students, but the conviction was overturned on appeal in September.

In a statement, Dumanis said: “After three separate trials, 36 San Diego jurors found the defendant guilty. The latest convictions were overturned for ineffective assistance of counsel, not for insufficiency of evidence."

"Successive prosecutions place a heavy burden on the victims of crime, especially children. We have a legal duty to protect child victims who participate in the court process. With the support of the victims’ parents, we are continuing to put the children first by avoiding a fourth trial,” Dumanis said.

Jesperson had been serving a sentence of 15 years to life in prison until the decision by the Court of Appeal for the 4th Appellate District in September 2007.

On a Web site, supporters hailed the decision, calling Jesperson's arrest and trial "a miscarriage of justice."

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