A Massachusetts man once falsely portrayed by a newspaper as a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing has been acquitted of sexually assaulting a woman while in college.
The Sentinel & Enterprise reports that 21-year-old Salaheddin Barhoum was found not guilty of indecent assault and battery by a judge Wednesday.
Prosecutors alleged Barhoum, then a student at Fitchburg State University, assaulted a student from Franklin Pierce University in November 2015. The two had met online and the woman came from New Hampshire to Massachusetts to visit Barhoum.
His lawyer said the encounter was consensual.
Barhoum was 16 when he was pictured with a friend on the front page of the New York Post three days after the 2013 bombing. He sued the newspaper for defamation and reached an undisclosed settlement.
