GREENFIELD — A Greenfield man was found not guilty of sexual assault Wednesday in Hancock Circuit Court at the conclusion of a two-day trial.
Ryan Nutter, 30, was acquitted of one Class C felony count of child molest. A jury of 12 Hancock County residents deliberated for fewer than 30 minutes Wednesday afternoon before reaching their verdict.
During trial, prosecutors tried convince jurors that Nutter repeatedly took advantage of a teen girl and kept her from reporting the abuse by monitoring the text messages she exchanged with friends.
Nutter’s defense attorney, however, painted the teen as someone who wanted friends’ attention and used lies about Nutter to gain her peers’ sympathy.
Nutter called 911 last fall saying he wanted to speak to an officer after he discovered text messages in which a teenager he’d helped care for said he forced her to touch him inappropriately.
During the investigation and trial, Nutter repeatedly denied any inappropriate behavior with the girl.
More details about the trial will be in Thursday’s Daily Reporter.