LAS VEGAS — John Wayne Bobbitt has been acquitted of charges that he battered family members after the discovery of a sex toy in his bedroom.

In finding Bobbitt innocent of domestic violence, a Las Vegas judge ruled Monday that Bobbitt's 14-year-old stepson was to blame for the August fight.

Bobbitt gained fame in 1993 when his first wife, Lorena, sexually mutilated him.

Monday's trial focused on a scuffle involving Bobbitt's stepson and the boy's mother, Joanna Ferrell, who is Bobbitt's wife of three years. Bobbitt, 37, had faced four misdemeanor battery counts.

Witnesses testified the teen became enraged after finding the sex toy. He began throwing things around the living room until Bobbitt confronted him.

When the boy shoved him, Bobbitt pushed him to the ground and restrained him, witnesses for both the prosecution and defense testified. Accounts varied whether Bobbitt ever punched the boy.

After the acquittal, Municipal Court Judge Pro-Tem Gary Lang reprimanded Bobbitt for failing to attend court-ordered anger management classes after a 2003 domestic violence conviction, and said Bobbitt would suffer serious repercussions if he failed to show up for his remaining 23 weeks of classes.

Ferrell filed for divorce the day after the August incident, but she and Bobbitt reconciled. Her son now lives with his father in New Mexico.

Outside the courtroom, Bobbitt said he was thrilled with his acquittal.

"I've never been so happy with the judicial system," Bobbitt said.