By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

After just under three hours of deliberation, an Ellis County jury found Fernando Insaurralde Cantero, 20, Paraguay, not guilty on all counts in a trial that ran through the week.

Cantero faced charges rape, aggravated criminal sodomy and aggravated burglary stemming from a sexual encounter in the early morning hours of Sept. 20, 2015, with a fellow Fort Hays State University student in her dorm room.

Cantero was enrolled as an international student at FHSU and was a member of the soccer team. He had only been on campus for a little over a month when the incident took place.

Throughout the week, jurors heard conflicting evidence surrounding the incident, with the defense questioning law enforcement on the thoroughness of the investigation and the lack of proof of the complaining witness’s intoxication.

Crystalyn Oswald, Assistant Ellis County Attorney, who led the prosecution, argued through the trial the complaining witness was extremely intoxicated when Cantero entered her dorm room around 3 a.m. Sept. 20.

Both parties testified as to sexual activities taking place, but Cantero argued the activities were consensual and initiated by the complaining witness.

However, his inability to communicate in English meant no verbal communication could take place between either the complaining witness or two other students that accompanied Cantero through female areas of their dormitory.

Throughout the proceedings, Cantero communicated through a court translator.

After being found not guilty, District Judge Glenn Braun released Cantero on all conditions of his bond.