The married Wall Street banker accused of raping an Irish student in the bathroom of his Hamptons mansion was cleared on Wednesday after a three-week trial.

Jason Lee, 38, of New York, was told by a judge that he was a free man after finding him not guilty of sex offences which could have seen him jailed for 25 years.

Judge Barbara Kahn said the 'burden of proof' was not met by the prosecution and rejected their claim that he subjected the woman, who was in the U.S. for the summer on a working visa, to a 'disgusting, violent attack'.

The judge instead sided with Lee's lawyer Andrew Lankler who claimed that Lee and the woman, then 20, had sex but that afterwards she thought it was 'perhaps regrettable'.

Former New York City investment banker Jason Lee leaves court hand in hand with wife Alicia on Wednesday after being cleared of raping an Irish student at his Hamptons home in the summer of 2013

The former banker's wife, Alicia (center), leaving court with a supporter following the three-week trial

After the verdict, Lee left the courtroom stone-faced, flanked by his lawyers, and did not respond to questions from the press. The married banker admitted that he had sex with the then 20-year-old tourist

The verdict is the bitter end of a two-year nightmare for the victim, now 22, who flew 16 hours to give evidence and has not even told her parents out of shame.

Asked by Miss Kelly if she had told them, she said: 'No, nobody at home knows what happened'.

But it also gave Lee, a former banker with Goldman Sachs, a chance to rebuild his life. He has attended each court hearing hand-in-hand with his wife, Alicia.

After the verdict, Lee left the courtroom stone-faced, flanked by his lawyers, and did not respond to questions from the press.

He got into a black Jeep Patriot that was waiting outside the courthouse and left immediately.

Judge Kahn took less than a day of deliberation to reach her verdict.

In her ruling she said that the victim's brother would have been an 'important witness' but he had not given evidence as he had accepted a job offer in London.

Lee stood quietly behind his lawyer who gave a brief statement to the press after the verdict at Suffolk Country Criminal Court and described the victim's claims as a 'false allegation'.

Former Goldman Sachs managing director Jason Lee, 38, in his mugshot on September 20, 2013

Edward Burke Jr said: 'We are deeply troubled that this matter went this far.

'The evidence was clear from day one and it took the Judge less than 24 hours to render a verdict and dismiss all charges'.

Even without being convicted, Lee has had a spectacular fall from grace for a man who was once a managing director and spent $33,000 a month on a rented home in East Hampton on Long Island.

He lived the life of a millionaire and was seen at fashion events and society parties in Manhattan attended by the likes of Donald Trump.

But after being accused of first-degree rape, sexual misconduct and third-degree assault he left his job at Goldman Sachs last year and no longer works for the firm.

Judge Kahn found him not guilty on all counts

During the trial the court heard how how Lee raped the student because he was going to do 'whatever he had to to get sex' because it was his birthday, according to prosecutors.

He allegedly put his hand over her mouth so hard she could not bite him and told her: 'Shut the f*** up! Shut the f*** up!'

The assault allegedly ended when the girl kneed him in the groin and staggered out in such a 'hysterical' state she was unable to talk.

The victim admitted to the defense that had it not been for her brother insisting she get in the police car, she probably never would have done so.

She also said that the attack lasted no more than two minutes.

The incident allegedly happened after the victim had spent the summer working in South Carolina and had come to Long Island to party with her brother before flying home.

Family members of Jason Lee shield their faces as they leave court on Wednesday following the end of the two-year case

Scene outside the courtroom before the verdict was delivered in the Jason Lee rape trail on Wednesday in Riverhead, Long Island. The judge took less than a day of deliberation to reach her verdict

Defense lawyer Ed Burket Jr alongside client Jason Lee. The banker had chosen a bench trial rather than a jury because, legal experts said, he might come across as unlikable to residents of Long Island

Their group met Lee at the trendy Georgica nightclub and went back to Lee's house to party until 4am on that night in the summer of 2013.

But Mr Lankler painted an entirely different picture of what happened next.

In his opening statement he said that the bathroom where the alleged rape happened was 12ft from where the victim's brother and her friend were - but that they did not hear a noise.

He said that the facts were 'entirely consistent with the circumstances under which consensual sex occurs' but that it could have been 'perhaps regrettable consensual sex'.

The victim and her best friend admitted that after meeting Lee they had been drinking vodka and wine and the court heard that when they got to his house the party continued with an open bottle of champagne.

The court was shown photographs taken that evening which showed the victim smiling with Lee draped around her arm.

Other pictures showed her posing with Lee and his friend, Rene Duncan. The victim's friend admitted that at one point she kissed Mr Duncan.

Mr Lankler said that he had a good idea about the victim's 'cultural attitude' and suggested she and her friends had a problem with Asians which may have explained why they reacted badly after she and Lee had sex.

There was also 'not a scratch' on Lee despite the victim claiming that they had been in a violent struggle, he said.

Lee had chosen a bench trial rather than a jury because, legal experts said, he might come across as unlikable to residents of Long Island.

A judge would also be more likely to be persuaded by complex legal arguments, a tactic which paid off in the end.

The house on Clover Leaf Lane in East Hampton, New York, where the 20-year-old Irish student told police that she had been sexually assaulted by Lee in the bathroom