A North Platte man who was accused of molesting a young girl has had charges against him dismissed.

In December of 2013, North Platte police received a report of a sexual assault of a child.

It was alleged that Wendell Matthews had sexual intercourse with a girl when she was between the ages of seven and eight.

Following an investigation, charges of 1st degree sexual assault of a child were filed against Matthews.

The trial in the case was supposed to begin this week.

On February 2, the State of Nebraska dismissed charges against Matthews.

According to Matthews’ attorney, Robert Lindemeier, “the State got it right.”

Lindemeier said the accusations against Matthews were completely false.

“The State presented no physical evidence in this case,” Lindemeier said.  “I’ve never been so sure of someone’s innocence.”

Lindemeier said the investigation of the case was mishandled from the beginning.

He said when the case was reviewed by his staff and Cooper Investigations, they found that the allegations were full of far-fetched stories that didn’t add up.

“They (law enforcement) heard the allegations and assumed it was true,” Lindemeier said.

But, Lindemeier said, the physical evidence didn’t support the allegations against Matthews.

Lindemeier praised Lincoln County Deputy Attorney, Jennifer Clements, saying she was faced with a very difficult decision when deciding whether to proceed with trial, or not.  He said Clements made the right decision based on the evidence, or lack thereof, revealed during the investigation.

At the time of his arrest last February, Matthews was a Dean’s List student at North Platte Community College, and was close to graduating.  Since the allegations, Matthews says he has been portrayed as a “monster” on social media sites, his car has been vandalized and he receives stares from the public.

However, Matthews gave high praise to his attorney and his staff.

“If not for Mr. Lindemeier and his staff, who knows what would have happened,” said Matthews.

The State dismissed the charges without prejudice, meaning charges could be brought against Matthews in the future.

Lindemeier said, based on his conversations with the County Attorney’s office, he doesn’t think charges will be brought again.