Lillian Reed

lreed@eveningsun.com

An Adams County jury acquitted a man of charges related to the alleged rape of an 18-year-old woman in the back of his car.

Bailey Alexander Hayhurst, 19, was acquitted April 10 on all charges, according to online court documents.

Police filed charges in September of rape by forcible compulsion, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse by forcible compulsion, sexual assault, indecent assault without consent, and simple assault, according to an affidavit filed with District Judge Daniel Bowman.

Hayhurst called the experience "extremely stressful" Wednesday, adding that he felt great to be acquitted and plans to return to work.

"I feel extremely relieved that the past six months hasn't gone to nothing," Hayhurst said. "It's gone to prove my innocence."

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Assistant District Attorney Megan Zei, who brought the case to court, could not immediately be reached Wednesday.

Hayhurst's position from the beginning was that the sex was consensual, said Jason Pudleiner, the Adams County public defender who represented the man in court this week.

"There were points where she had hesitations," Pudleiner said. "Every time she had hesitation, he would stop."

The woman told police she and Hayhurst were talking in his car when he asked her to sit with him in the back seat, where he began to make sexual advances toward her, the affidavit states.

The woman told Hayhurst two times that she wanted him to stop, but he did not, she told police. She said after the incident that Hayhurst apologized and told her he should have stopped, according to the affidavit.

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Pudleiner said his defense was hinged on inconsistencies in the woman's testimony.

According to the affidavit, Hayhurst admitted to police that he had sex with the woman without her consent. Pudleiner said that statement is misleading. He said his client told police the woman told him to stop but the two would continue kissing.

Before the trial, Hayhurst was held for more than six months in Adams County prison in lieu of $50,000 bail.

"It was disappointing he had to serve that much time," Pudleiner said. "We felt that he should have been given benefit of the doubt, but he served six months regardless."