A jury this week acquitted a San Francisco man of burglary with the intent to commit sexual assault as well as felony burglary, reports SFist.
27-year-old Teandre Howard-Kidd faced charges in the New Year’s Eve incident when he forced his way into the woman’s apartment. The jury found him not guilty of the most serious charges, but did convict him of two misdemeanors, assault and elder abuse.
The public defender told the court Howard-Kidd suffers from a mental disorder and thought he was entering his uncle’s apartment. Sujung Kim said his client was having delusions when he lied on her bed and pulled down her pants.
Howard-Kidd left the woman within four minutes of entering after she told him her bones hurt and “she could not do it.”
The woman was praised for “her courage and strong spirit” after the incident by Norman Fong, executive director of the Chinatown Community Development Center, who has met with the victim, according to Oxygen.
Anni Chung of Self Help for the Elderly criticized the verdict because she said it “trivialized the crime and experience of the victim.”
Sentencing is scheduled for January 2.
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