News Photo by Julie Riddle Former Montmorency County Sheriff’s Department deputy Daniel Oelfke is seen on the stand Thursday in an Atlanta courtroom. Oelfke was found not guilty of sexual assault.

ATLANTA — Former Montmorency County Sheriff’s Department deputy Daniel Oelfke is not guilty of sexual assault, a jury declared after 20 minutes deliberation in Atlanta’s 26th Circuit Court on Thursday.

Oelfke was accused of holding a then-coworker by the throat and assaulting her with his hand after the two of them talked and drank in his truck during the early morning hours of Sept. 30, 2018.

The News does not name victims of sexual assault.

The alleged victim, who was also a county employee and knew Oelfke socially, said in testimony Wednesday that she had asked Oelfke, among other people, for a ride during Atlanta’s 2018 Elk Fest.

The two of them sat in his truck in her driveway, at her invitation, talking casually and playing a drinking game with beer she had provided.

When Oelfke, who had in the past expressed sexual interest in the woman, pulled her to him for a kiss, she was surprised into inaction, even though she didn’t want the kiss, she testified.

Oelfke exited the truck and moved around to the passenger door where, both parties agreed, he held her by her neck against the truck and touched her sexually with his other hand, actions Oelfke said he thought would please her.

The woman, who testified she did not initially push Oelfke away or tell him to stop, said that, nevertheless, his actions were unwanted and his penetration into her body was done without her consent.

Oelfke, who took the stand Thursday, told the jury about previous contact between the two of them, including the exchange of unclothed and semi-clothed photos via Snapchat, a social media platform that allows photos to be deleted from a phone after being viewed.

The woman said the photos were a flirtation and sent months before the Sept. 30 incident. She testified that, since that time, she turned down sexual advances by Oelfke on multiple occasions.

The prior contacts and the facts that she initiated the conversation in the truck, provided alcohol, and did not physically or verbally react to his advances constituted consent, Oelfke’s attorney told the jury in his closing arguments.

He characterized the alleged victim as a liar who changed her story to protect herself.

In court Thursday, the prosecution called as witnesses members of law enforcement, who testified about the woman’s statements during their investigation into the allegations against Oelfke. The woman did change her version of events during the course of the investigation, they testified, although they said changes of that sort are normal in such a case.

A woman who several years ago had an otherwise consensual sexual encounter with Oelfke testified that, at one point, he frightened her by putting his hand aggressively on her neck and holding her down while continuing in sexual behavior toward her, not immediately letting go until she pushed him off of her.

During closing arguments, the prosecution attempted to point the jury toward a pattern of aggressive behavior on the defendant’s part and remind them that, legally, a woman who does not resist or do anything to lessen to danger to herself is still not considered to be giving her consent to a sexual act.

Otsego County Prosecutor Brendan Curran — appointed to the case when Montmorency County Prosecutor Vicki Kundinger was excused because she knew both parties professionally — told the jury the alleged victim did not do anything to provide consent to an event that she did not want.

“And she’s not required to,” he said.

A closing argument by defense attorney Douglas Gutscher, of the Police Officer’s Association of Michigan, pointed the jury to the woman’s actions of welcoming and encouraging the time drinking with Oelfke, despite knowing his sexual desire for her. He pointed also to her inaction when he began to touch her sexually, and her omission of several potentially incriminating details from her initial recitation of the story to police.

There is no doubt that the woman regretted her actions with Oelfke, Gutscher said, “but regret’s not rape. To put this man on trial for rape under these circumstances is unconscionable.”

“There is no winner in these cases,” Judge Michael Mack told jurors after they delivered the verdict, thanking them for their two days of crucial service for a very difficult trial.

Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693, jriddle@thealpenanews.com or on Twitter @jriddleX.