A MAN who admitted showing his genitals to pupils outside an Oxfordshire school has been found not guilty of exposure – because he did it “to get a giggle”.

Trevor Perry, who has six previous convictions for indecent exposure, deliberately performed lunges in small running shorts outside Didcot Girls’ School so his genitals were exposed.

But the 52-year-old environmental consultant was cleared of exposure by magistrates as they felt it was not proven he “intended to cause alarm or distress”, as set out in the wording of the charge.

The three magistrates on the bench spent an hour and 15 minutes deliberating before clearing the defendant, and then agreed to pay for his travel costs and the bill for an overnight stay in a hotel.

The father of one of the three girls who witnessed the act said: “I can’t believe he’s got away without anything.

“He’s admitted to putting it out on view. I think it’s disgusting. Does that tell everybody else they can do the same and get away with it as long as they say it was for a laugh?”

Prosecutor Steve Molloy told the trial Perry was seen in running clothes outside the school as pupils left for the day on July 11.

He said: “One of the girls in her statement said it left her feeling frightened to walk along the road.”

Magistrates’ chairman Roger Clarke said: “This has not been an easy decision for the three of us to come to.”

He said it was proven that Perry had exposed himself.

But he added: “You have been consistent throughout that your intent, albeit unacceptable to the average individual in this country, was purely to get a giggle or a laugh. We therefore find you not guilty.”

Mr Clarke added: “Obviously this is a case that has caused distress, it has caused alarm, and there may be people in this court room who struggle to know how we came to this decision.”

He said the “benefit of the doubt” had to be given to the defendant. The offence can carry a maximum sentence of six months in prison.

Perry, of Rainow, Macclesfield, was given a five-year restraining order excluding him from contact with the three girls and from going within three miles of the school, except passing through on the A34 or on a train.

Mr Clarke said: “Because there was clear planning and practice, and execution, of the act on the day we feel it quite right we should apply a restraining order.”

Didcot Girls’ School headteacher Rachael Warwick said: “I do not understand how a man who has come into our community and exposed himself to three female students cannot be thought to have intended harm to our young people. The fact that no sentence was given seems to send mixed messages to schools and the community.”

Mr Molloy said the Crown Prosecution Service would “retain the right to apply for a sexual offences prevention order” at a later date.