Revd Canon James Andrew Christopher Wilson, 67, was found not guilty of 16 charges of abuse, allegedly committed in the 70s and 80s, in September 2010.
He had always denied any offence whilst working as a teacher at Pennycross Primary School in Plymouth before he was ordained.
But now the National Council of Teaching and Leadership has banned him from the classroom for the rest of his life after it found "on the balance of probabilities" he did touch five pupils inappropriately.
The panel said it was satisfied Canon Wilson was guilty of unacceptable professional conduct with a sexual motivation.
Three women and two men told the panel he had "fondled" them and one of the women said he sexually abused her.
"The panel was mindful of the fact that Mr Wilson had been tried of the matters forming the subject matter of the current charges against him and he was found not guilty," the NCTL report said.
"However, the panel noted that the criminal trial was decided on the basis of a standard of proof of beyond reasonable doubt, whereas the current proceedings required findings on the balance of probabilities.
"The panel found the allegations in respect of each pupil proven, and also considered that the evidence of all five pupils collectively demonstrated significant consistency in their accounts of the events, particularly the similarities in the descriptions and circumstances of the touching.
"Taken together, these are mutually supportive and add significant weight to the panel's findings that Mr Wilson did touch pupils in an inappropriate way."
NCTL deputy director, Alan Meyrick, said: "This is a very serious case in which the panel has paid very careful attention to the evidence of a range of witnesses.
"The allegations were very serious ones and the panel's findings of fact are clear.
"In this case it is very clear that the serious and repeated nature of Mr Wilson's conduct against very young children amounted to misconduct of a serious nature, falling significantly short of the standard of behaviour expected of a teacher."
Canon Wilson was not at the conduct hearing and has the opportunity to appeal to the High Court.