Traill County State's Attorney Stuart Larson, citing "inadequate" evidence, announced Wednesday that the four men reportedly involved in sexually assaulting a Mayville, N.D., woman will not be charged.
The woman who made the report said she was disappointed by the news, but not surprised.
"It pretty much came down to my word against theirs," she said.
Larson stressed that point as a factor in his decision.
"You have four statements that contradict one statement," he said.
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Larson said he reviewed the results of a sexual assault exam, the alleged victim's and suspects' statements given to police, and investigation reports from the Mayville Police, the Sheriff's Department and the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation, before making a decision.
The Mayville woman, who is in her 30s, filed a report with the police July 27, saying she'd met a man at a bar the night before and went back to an apartment with him. She was having consensual sex with him when another man showed up. The two men sexually assaulted her, then two more men entered the apartment. One of those men sexually assaulted her along with the initial pair, she told police.
Larson said another reason for not pursuing charges was a lack of physical evidence.
"There isn't any. She showered afterward," he said, referring to the shower the woman took at home after the incident.
"I cried and took a shower and brushed my teeth. I felt so gross, used and violated," the woman wrote in her statement for police.
Larson said even if physical evidence had been obtained, there still would be the burden of proving the sex was not consensual. Making such an argument in this case is a challenge because the alleged victim went into the situation seeking consensual sex, he said.
Larson also pointed to a text message he said the woman sent her husband as she was leaving the apartment that read, "I'm on my way home. I'm fine."
The woman said she does not recall sending that message but speculated it could have been sent after she talked to her husband in the early morning hours of July 27.
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Larson would not comment further on his decision beyond saying the investigation unearthed "all kinds of doubt."
The woman's husband countered: "It's not up to him whether there's a reasonable doubt," he said. "It's a judge or a jury that's to decide whether there's a reasonable doubt."
The husband said he'd like to get a second opinion on the case, saying local law enforcement officials shirked their duty in this case.
