Ex-frat president divides jury with sexual assault charges

Ari Goldstein faced a jury on Tuesday, and they found him guilty of one sexual assault charge but not the other.

Goldstein was the president of Temple University’s Alpha Epsilon Pi. The fraternity was kicked off campus in April 2018, after one of the women involved in this case reported the incident to police.

Inquirer.com reports that the first incident occurred in Nov. 2017. It was reported that Goldstein and the female were having consensual sex in his room at the frat house. The female asked him to stop when he pressed his arm on her collarbone, and then he put his fingers down her throat. She said that Goldstein forced her to perform oral sex on him even though she said no.

At the time, she was a Temple University junior.

The jury decided that Goldstein’s conduct during this incident was not a crime.

Another woman testified last week saying that in February 2018, Goldstein attempted to force her into having sex against her will before she managed to leave his room.

She was a freshman at the time.

For the February 2018 incident, Goldstein has been convicted of indecent assault, attempted sexual assault and attempted involuntary deviate sexual intercourse.

Inquirer.com reports that the jury included eight women and four men.

According to outlets on the scene, the women who testified sat together in the front row as the verdict was read—hugging and holding each other.

During closing arguments on Friday, Assistant District Attorney Zachary Wynkoop said that the women were clear in telling Goldstein to stop.

Perry de Marco, Sr., Goldstein’s attorney, said that the women were “making something out of nothing,” according to Inquirer.com. De Marco also said that one of the women previously had “rough sex” with Goldstein and used him as her “sex boy.”

“We know in the real world, ‘no, no’ has many shades of gray,” de Marco said, according to outlets on scene.

It was reported that Goldstein did not take the stand. Outlets on the scene report that the courtroom was full of supporters of Goldstein, including relatives. Inquirer.com reports that three of these supporters acted as character witnesses.

Initially, Goldstein was arrested in May 2018 and was charged with attempted assault for the incident involving the freshman. After seeing the charges on the news, the other woman reported her allegations to officials.

At the end of the trial, handcuffs were put on Goldstein, and he was taken into custody. Goldstein was out of jail on bail since last year and will be sentenced in May.