
GERING, Neb. (AP) — A western Nebraska man accused of raping a drunken teenage girl at a party has been acquitted.
A 16-year-old girl had told Scotts Bluff County authorities that she’d gotten drunk at a party over Memorial Day weekend and that Joseph Moore, of Bayard, had sex with her without her consent. Moore testified at the trial that the sex was consensual.
On Tuesday a jury found the 23-year-old Moore not guilty of the rape allegation but guilty of procuring liquor for a minor.
A second girl told authorities that she was assaulted by a different man at the party. His case is pending trial.