The schoolteacher charged with seven counts of sexually exploiting his former students was found guilty on all seven counts by an unanimous jury yesterday.

Erwin Nisbett, 53, of Somerset Lane in Pembroke West, will be sentenced at a later day, giving the Crown time to compile victim impact statements which will be a factor in the sentencing.

Nisbett showed no reaction as the foreperson of the jury read out the verdict before the hushed courtroom, nearly a third filled with spectators including his wife, who also gave testimony in the trial.

"He deserved what he got," said one of several bystanders watching Nisbett as he was led from the courtroom. "I hope he gets the maximum, which is 14 years."

"Why wasn't his teaching license revoked," wondered another onlooker, as a third said: "Justice has been served."

Defence counsel Elizabeth Christopher however said, "appeal is certain. Before you even ask, appeal is certain."

Crown counsel Juan Wolffe added: "We can't obviously talk about the case." Mr. Wolffe was assisted by Shakira Dill.

The prosecution expressed gratitude to the jury for reaching their verdict. "It was clear they found the offences as reprehensible as many other people in our society would," said Mr. Wolffe.

"We would also like to express our sincere admiration to the young victims who showed monumental courage in coming to court to give evidence," continued Mr. Wolffe and Ms Dill. "We hope they now can put some closure on what happened to them and go on with their lives."

"I concluded that this man has no appreciation for what he has really done to these girls," said chairperson of the Coalition of the Protection of Children Sheelagh Cooper when asked her impression of the trial.

Ms Cooper reached her conclusion by following the trial in the newspaper as well as sitting in on the trial on several occasions. "He will require a great deal of therapy before he can be considered someone safe to return to the community," she said.

She told The Royal Gazette only five to ten percent of such cases ever get prosecuted, due in part largely to the fact that they often go unreported.

And, she said, even when children do tell their parents what is happening, parents often have trouble believing the horrible truth.

"It is to the credit of the girls and their parents that a) the girls spoke up, b) the parents believed them and supported them, and c) that they were all willing to do the very difficult task of carrying through with prosecution," she said.

"Going on the stand is not an easy thing. It takes a lot of fortitude. The parents and their children should be congratulated. They protected our community from someone who would be continuing to do this until they were stopped."

The jury began deliberating at about 11.30 on Friday morning after a one-hour summation of the case by Assistant Justice Charles-Etta Simmons.

In her summation, Ms Simmons warned the jury not to be swayed by emotion, but to look only at the facts.

"Feelings of empathy or sympathy arise towards the defendant or complainants as part of strong emotive addresses by counsel. Such feelings have no role in the verdict in this case," she said.

She asked the nine-woman, three-man jury to attempt to come up with an unanimous verdict. If enough time went by and the jury was unable to do so, she said, she would direct them on a majority verdict of nine to three.

However the jury returned with their verdict before Ms Simmons was required to take that course of action. It was a little over three hours after the end of her summation when the jury announced the verdict was in.

Ms Simmons directed the jury to find Nisbett not guilty on five other counts of sexual exploitation which he was originally charged with, but which were dropped from the indictment on Wednesday.

She then adjourned the court until a pre-sentencing report and the victim impact statements are compiled and ready. Nisbett is due to appear in court again for mention at the arraignments session on March 3 of this year.

Ms Cooper said the sentencing judge should keep several things in mind when sentencing Nisbett.

"It is possible to treat these individuals, and with a reasonable degree of success," she said. "However it is a time-consuming process. It needs a reasonable length of incarceration for the treatment to be effective.

"It's not about punishment, it's about public safety," she continued. "And public safety requires rehabilitation, because no matter how many years he gets, he will eventually return."

Ms Cooper also said this sort of crime was particularly heinous because it involved not only a breach of trust but the use of a position of power. "That makes these girls, students, even more vulnerable to people like that," she said.

"Obviously it was a clear case and we're glad the jury could see that. Our only hope now is that this individual gets the kind of help he really desperately needs to protect the public in the future."