It took a Whitley Circuit Court Jury only about 45 minutes Friday to acquit a Corbin man on a statutory rape related charge.
On Dec. 10, 2007, Joshua Allen, who is now 23, was indicted for second-degree rape in connection with an April 10, 2005 incident where he had sexual intercourse with a female less than 14 years of age, according to court documents.
“The Commonwealth just did not prove that my client committed the crime,” said Allen’s attorney, Warren Scoville. “There was so much evidence that this young lady had held herself out to be more than 17 years of age, including her MySpace blog that was introduced to the jury. The jury did the right thing.”
Commonwealth’s Attorney Allen Trimble said the incident was a rape case due to the age of the parties.
“It was up to the jury,” Trimble said. “There was no question that the child had intercourse when she was 13. A baby was born as a result of it. The jury believed that the 13-year-old tricked the 20-year-old as to her age.”
Trimble said that 16 years old is the age of legal consent in Kentucky.
The trial started last Wednesday, but jurors were sent home around noon due to inclement weather and the trial resumed Friday morning, and concluded before 1:30 p.m.
