"I never did anything wrong," the 43-year-old Kainalu Elementary teacher said yesterday after prevailing in what he regarded as the most difficult event of his life.

Sueoka, who has been on paid leave, said teachers need to be affectionate to students, "to be there for them."

If he returns to teaching or works with children in the future, the basketball referee and former coach said he would continue to hug them, adding: "I think kids need that."

But Sueoka also said that he would think more about whom he hugged or patted on the butt, based on evolving public standards of physical contact between teachers and students.

"You can't tell teachers to not be themselves," he said. "But you also have to be more conscious."

The father of the children, ages 13 and 11, said he was disappointed in the verdict, which cleared Sueoka of five counts of third-degree sexual assault. The charge carries a five-year prison term.

A U.S. Marine intelligence officer, the father showed little emotion, but said he believed his children. In the two-day trial, the 13-year-old boy and his 11-year-old sister testified that Sueoka sexually fondled them in a classroom with other students.

The boy said Sueoka touched his genitals and butt in 1994, and just his butt in 1996. The girl said he poked her with his finger in her breast and touched her butt in 1996.

Neither could remember exactly when and both said they didn't tell anyone because they were embarrassed, afraid and confused. Their testimonies differed from what they told a detective and what their mother said they said.

Sueoka testified that he didn't have sexual contact with them or any student. He said he let students sit on his knee as he corrected papers but didn't force them. He also said he patted his students on their butts as a gesture of encouragement -- not sexual gratification.

He said he went to the girl's desk and pointed in the direction of her shoulder to tell her to stop talking with her classmate. She had said he called her to his desk and poked her breast with his finger.

Deputy Prosecutor Thalia Murphy said children were not likely to describe an incident the same way two times in a row and that the two children who testified were intimidated by Sueoka's supporters.

She also said some parents didn't allow their children to cooperate in the case.

Murphy said she hoped the case would define appropriate physical contact, saying teachers shouldn't pat butts or let students sit on their laps in classrooms.

"We will continue to prosecute these cases," she added.

Howard Luke, Sueoka's attorney, praised jurors for overcoming the prejudices against people accused of sexually assaulting children.

He said he hoped his client continued teaching but said overcoming accusations of sexual abuse was almost impossible.

Luke said he received numerous letters and calls from former students who recalled "what a loving, affectionate man he was."

But he said the case illustrated that the current environment requires teachers to use "an abundance of caution" when they interact with students.

Angie Naka, a retired teacher who worked with Sueoka at Kainalu Elementary School, said Sueoka went out of his way to help students. "These people from the mainland, they don't know what hugging is," she said. "Even a pat on the butt. It means you did fine -- we're happy for you."

The children grew up on the mainland in several states, moving to Hawaii in 1993.

Sueoka said the case reinforced the importance of believing in himself. He said the state had proposed he plead guilty to lesser charges, but he declined because he didn't do anything wrong.

"I'm glad it's over," he said. "I've got to decide what I'm going to do. I'll leave it in the Lord's hands."