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Jury finds man accused of raping BYU student not guilty

Posted at 4:32 PM, Oct 19, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-19 18:32:47-04

UTAH COUNTY, Utah — A man accused of raping a Brigham Young University student in 2015 was found not guilty by a jury Wednesday.

Nasiru Seidu faced one count of rape as a first-degree felony in connection with an incident that occurred in September of 2015.

According to charging documents, Seidu and the woman were engaged in consensual intercourse when they stopped to get a condom. The woman said she decided not to have sex with the man after all but says he took her clothes off and forced her to have sex with him despite her saying no.

The documents state Seidu spoke with the alleged victim on the phone a few days later and acknowledged she had said no and screamed. Prosecutors also say that during that phone call Seidu told the victim: “you said that I raped you; I did and I want you to forgive me.”

The jury began deliberating Wednesday, the fourth day of the trial, just before 6 p.m. and they returned a not guilty verdict about five hours later.