Man acquitted of raping woman at party

Kevin Michael Pondexter cleared of charges stemming from incident at March 2015 underage drinking party attended by North Penn High School students

The family and friends of a Hatfield man wept, hugged and applauded loudly as a jury acquitted him of charges he sexually assaulted an unconscious woman at a Towamencin party.

“Thank you, it’s over! Thank you, Jesus!” the supporters of 19-year-old Kevin Michael Pondexter shouted in Montgomery County Court as each of the “not guilty” verdicts was announced by the jury forewoman.

The jury, which deliberated nearly two hours after a two-day trial, acquitted Pondexter, of the first block of Brookside Drive, of charges of rape of an unconscious person, sexual assault without consent, indecent assault of an unconscious person and indecent assault of a person without consent in connection with an incident that occurred in the early morning hours of March 28, 2015, at a home in the 1800 block of Flintlock Circle, Towamencin.

Pondexter, who testified his sexual contact with an 18-year-old Lansdale woman was consensual, declined to comment about the verdict as he left the courtroom surrounded by supporters.

“His story since the inception has never changed. He was unwavering,” defense lawyer Daniel W. McCartney Jr. argued to jurors during his closing statement at the trial before Judge Gail Weilheimer. “He did not do anything that (the woman) did not consent to. Mr. Pondexter did not engage in any predatory behavior.”

At trial, the woman testified she arrived at the Towamencin home of a high school friend about 11 p.m. March 27 and became intoxicated from drinking tequila and beer at

“He did not do anything that (the woman) did not consent to. Mr. Pondexter did not engage in any predatory behavior.” — defense lawyer Daniel W. McCartney Jr.

the basement party that was attended by about 25 young people, many of them underage, from North Penn High School.

A female friend of the woman testified the woman “was really drunk,” had become intoxicated to the point where she was unsteady on her feet and could barely talk and her eyes were rolling back in her head. The friend testified she and other party guests helped the woman upstairs to a living room and placed

her on a couch, where the woman passed out or fell asleep, around 2 a.m.

The friend testified when she returned to the room a short time later to check on the alleged victim she found Pondexter on top of the woman, his pants unbuckled, with the woman’s pants down below her knees and that she screamed at Pondexter, who then left the room.

The alleged victim, during her testimony, said she didn’t know if she had sexual contact with Pondexter but she seemed to imply that she would not have consented to sex.

“I didn’t know what was going on. I don’t know what

was happening,” the woman testified at one point. “I didn’t feel right. I felt as though something had happened.”

The woman, according to testimony, was taken to a hospital later on the morning of March 28 by her mother but there was no medical evidence presented to the jury during the trial.

Assistant District Attorney Kelly Lloyd played for the jury a cellphone video of the woman that appeared to show her intoxicated state during the party. That cellphone video was recorded by the friend of the woman.

“That’s the condition the victim was in shortly before

the defendant was found upstairs on top of her. A person like that cannot consent to sex. There’s no question she was intoxicated,” Lloyd argued. “(Pondexter) was an opportunist. He took advantage of the situation and that’s not right.”

Pondexter, during testimony and police statements, claimed the woman initiated sex with him, was a willing participant and that he and the woman had consensual sexual contact.

Character witnesses testified Pondexter is “genuine and kind-hearted,” and one woman testified he’s “one of the sweetest teenagers I’ve known.”