CONCORD — A registered sex offender who argued he did not break the law by hiring a child to work for his landscaping business has won an appeal to the New Hampshire Supreme Court.

Edward Proctor was convicted under a law prohibiting certain sex offenders from undertaking employment involving the care, instruction or guidance of children. He had hired a male juvenile in May 2016, but was arrested after the boy’s mother found out Proctor was a sex offender.

In a ruling on Friday, the court said the law doesn’t bar such hiring because landscaping is not a service that by its nature provides access to children. It reversed Proctor’s conviction and sent the case back to the lower court.