A 73-year-old former community-college instructor has been acquitted of sex-abuse charges involving young children.
Richard Montgomery had faced 13 counts of sex abuse against three girls and a boy, all siblings who knew him.
But Benton County Circuit Judge Locke Williams acquitted Montgomery on Friday after Montgomery’s wife testified he rarely had isolated contact with the children and a neighbor testified she had no concerns about her own children.
Deputy District Attorney Karen Stanley said sex-abuse cases are difficult to prosecute because there often is no physical evidence.