St. Paul's student found guilty of statutory rape, a misdemeanor.
But not guilty of more serious sexual assault charges.
Since she was under 16 and there was a three year gap between their ages, the statutory rape decision probably wasn't difficult.
As to the other charges, I didn't hear most of the testimony heard by the jury, but I think it must have been a hard decision to make.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/29/us/st-pauls-school-rape-trial-owen-labrie.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
It was never disputed that Mr. Labrie met with the girl, who is now 16. On May 30, 2014, the pair went up to the roof of a tall building to take in a view of the whole campus, and then to a room below where, with machinery whirring around them, they began to kiss.
What followed, said Mr. Labrie, who took the stand on Wednesday, was a playful, teasing tryst that went no further than kissing and touching. But the girl, who testified for one full day last week, and parts of two more, said that she had been penetrated by Mr. Labrie’s fingers, tongue and penis, and that it had been rape.
New Hampshire, unlike many other states, does not require prosecutors to show that force was involved to prove rape. In 1995, the state adopted language providing that guilt for sexual assault could be found if someone sexually penetrates another person when “the victim indicates by speech or conduct that there is not freely given consent.” Mr. Labrie faced two felony charges related to consent as well as a third based on alternative legal theory that he penetrated her “by the element of surprise” before could flee or resist.
He also faced five misdemeanor charges, some of them related to the girl’s age at the time of the encounter since in New Hampshire, girls under 16 cannot legally consent.
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