Jamaican shot putter Kevin Nedrick broke down in tears in the Hennepin County District Court in Minnesota, USA, yesterday as Hennepin District Judge Jay Quam read out a verdict of not guilty on charges of third-degree criminal sexual conduct.

The 22-year-old Nedrick, who holds two national junior records in the shot put and javelin, faced a minimum of 15 years in prison had he been found guilty of the charges he was facing since his arrest in August 2020 when he was alleged to have sexually assaulted another student at a birthday party near campus.

A report on the Star-Tribune website yesterday said both Nedrick and the alleged victim testified in a trial that began Tuesday and ended with closing arguments Thursday, before being handed to a jury.

The report said Nedrick, a shot putter who had attended Petersfield High School before going to Barton County on a track and field scholarship, then transferring to the University of Minnesota, “cried when the verdict was read Friday. He had testified the alleged victim was hitting on him before the encounter, and broke down on the stand when he talked about the trial and the accusation.

“I worked all my life to get here and it can be taken in a moment for something I didn’t do,” he was quoted to have said.

The alleged victim also testified, saying Nedrick had overpowered her, pushed her into her bedroom, kissed her neck and penetrated her with his finger after she had told him to stop multiple times during a 10 to 15-minute encounter. The alleged attack occurred at the apartment where the party occurred.

The report also said campus police were called about 1:15 am to the apartment about a possible sexual assault. The woman testified that she was helping her room-mate, who was vomiting in the bathroom, when Nedrick overpowered her. She underwent a sexual assault examination at a hospital, where a nurse noted bruises on her left forearm and fresh marks on her neck.

The Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association Champs and County of Cornwall Athletics Association (COCAA) Western Champs Class One shot put record holder represented Jamaica in both the shot put and the discus at the World Under-20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, in 2016 and was a Carifta Games silver medallist that same year, as well as a silver and bronze medallist at the Pan Am Juniors in 2017 in Trujillo, Peru.

— Paul Reid