A Dolores man accused of sexually assaulting two teenage girls was acquitted on the second of two counts Thursday afternoon, but was found guilty of a last-minute charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, entered by his own defense attorney.

Kevin Kartchner, 22, originally faced charges of first-degree sexual assault on a helpless victim and sexual assault on a child.

The first charge was dropped Wednesday after Judge Sharon Hansen granted a motion for dismissal on grounds of lack of evidence.

The second charge went to the jury Thursday afternoon. In just one hour, the jurors returned with a verdict of not guilty. He was found guilty on the third charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Both alleged victims, one 13 and one 16, were in town for spring break last March when they went to a party, became intoxicated and ended up at the defendant’s home, according to their own accounts.

The 13-year-old testified Tuesday that she and her cousin (the second alleged victim) had been drinking at a party at the "power lines" near Totten Lake when they met Kartchner, then 21, for the first time.

The 13-year-old said she and her cousin drank beer provided by Kartchner as well as hard liquor brought to the party by someone else. The girl said her cousin became extremely intoxicated and Kartchner offered to take them to his home to get some coffee.

It was at his home on County Road 27, the youngest girl said, where Kartchner sexually assaulted first her, then her incapacitated cousin.

"I told him it was wrong," the 13-year-old told the jury.

Thursday afternoon, Kartchner took the stand as the final witness in his own defense, giving his own account of events that led to a scene at his home with two intoxicated girls — one crying that she’d been sexually assaulted, the other lying in her own vomit — and Kartchner standing in his boxer shorts when family and police arrived.

Kartchner told the jury he didn’t even know the girls’ names prior to the trial and had only brought them to his house to help them sober up.

He said that when family and police arrived at his home he was in his boxers because he was changing out of the clothes the 16-year-old had vomited on during the drive to the house.

"I was covered (in vomit) from head to toe," Kartchner said.

When his attorney, public defender Suzanne Carlson, asked him if he had at any point had sex with, touched, fondled or kissed either of the alleged victims, Kartchner replied, "No, ma’am, I did not."

Carlson also asked him if he had provided the girls with beer. He said that he had.

On cross-examination, deputy district attorney Katy Cabot questioned Kartchner’s actions both before and after arriving at his home with the girls. Cabot asked him why he hadn’t taken the two girls to town and why he hadn’t tried to call someone or tried to get them other help.

Kartchner told the jury it hadn’t occurred to him at the time.

Cabot also questioned Kartchner about his account of the sequence of events that night and the amount of time he was alone with the girls, pointing out that the time frame he offered was far shorter than that of any of the other witnesses who testified.

Cabot then asked why he had not changed his vomit-saturated clothes immediately upon arriving at his home, rather than sitting down and watching television first. Kartchner replied it was just "watery puke" and it didn’t really bother him because he had a "strong stomach."

Earlier in the week, the court heard from several witnesses who testified to various accounts of the night’s events as well as the physical evidence collected at the scene and from rape kits and examinations.

No DNA evidence was found to corroborate the 13-year-old’s story that Kartchner had had intercourse with both her and her cousin. The 16-year-old testified that she had been so drunk she did not remember anyything about the incident.

A doctor and a nurse gave conflicting testimony as to physical signs of sexual assault they had each observed. However, one forensic witness for the prosecution, a registered nurse, did testify that a pubic hair found in the bed where the alleged rapes had taken place was consistent with samples taken from the younger girl. Earlier, however, she had said that she thought the younger girl was prepubescent and did not have pubic hair.

During closing statements Carlson told the jury that her client had not been perfect the night of the incident, in reference to providing the girls with alcohol, but was innocent on the counts of sexual assault.

"He’s not the smartest guy in the world, but he’s a nice guy," Carlson said. "He didn’t do this."

The jury of seven women and five men then went into deliberation.

Kartchner nodded his head and smiled as Judge Hansen read the verdicts. The alleged victims and their family sat quietly, shaking their heads.

Kartchner will reappear in court March 21, for a sentencing hearing on the single count of contributing to the delinquency of minors.

The third count was entered late Thursday morning before Kartchner took the stand. The charge was entered in the absence of the jury by defense attorney Carlson.

Cabot argued that the count should not be allowed, but was over-ruled by Hansen.

"I didn’t feel that it met the definition of a ‘lesser, non-included offense’. It wasn’t really related to what he was charged with," Cabot told the Journal Friday.

"It was something that was added by his defense lawyer as a strategic move to give the jurors something that they could convict him of that was not as serious as what he was charged with."

Cabot added that she, the detectives involved, and the family of the alleged victims were disappointed in the outcome.

"We worked very hard, Detective (Steve) Harmon and I, and we felt like it was a pretty good case because we did have some physical evidence and in a lot of rape cases we don’t have any physical evidence because the victim doesn’t report right away," Cabot said.

Cabot also expressed concern for all alleged victims of sexual assault who testify.

"I feel like it’s unfair to have a 13-year-old on the witness stand for 3 1/2 hours," Cabot said. "I feel like there’s no incentive for victims to report this crime if that’s the way they’re treated."

Carlson told the Journal Friday she felt justice had been served with the outcome of the trial, adding that the third count was entered by the defense as an opportunity to convict Kartchner of what he was indeed guilty of.

"I don’t think he committed the crime and he was convicted of what he did do," Carlson said.