Liverpool manager's son found not guilty

LONDON (AFP) –

Brighton and Hove Albion footballer Anton Rodgers (L) arrives with his father Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers (R) at the Old Bailey in London, on May 7, 2013. Anton Rodgers, 20, and three Brighton team-mates have been found not guilty of sexual assault and voyeurism.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers voiced his family’s relief after his footballer son Anton was cleared Friday in a sex case at England’s central criminal court.

Anton Rodgers, 20, and three Brighton team-mates were found not guilty of sexual assault and voyeurism.

The retrial, at the Old Bailey in London, followed an earlier trial in which a jury could not agree verdicts.

Brendan Rodgers said: “The last 18 months have been extremely traumatic for us as a family, but we are relieved that Anton’s name has been cleared.

“I am also pleased for the other defendants and their families, that they can now get on with living their lives without these hurtful allegations hanging over them.”

Anton Rodgers, Lewis Dunk, 21, and George Barker, 21, and former team-mate Steve Cook, 22, who now plays for Bournemouth, had maintained their innocence throughout.

They were alleged to have assaulted a 19-year-old woman in a hotel room in July 2011 after celebrating a victory.