PSU's Phillips acquitted of sexual assault

BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) -- Penn State football player Anwar Phillips on Tuesday was acquitted by a jury on sex assault charges involving another student.

The accusations resulted in his temporary expulsion from the university, and in March he was charged with sexual assault and aggravated indecent assault, both felonies.

In closing arguments Tuesday morning, defense attorney Tony DeBoef said the woman Phillips was accused of assaulting consented to sex, but changed her mind afterward.

"Obviously, [the woman] is upset. There is no dispute about that," DeBoef said. "On behalf of the defendant I'm going to offer to you that she was upset after this happened -- not during, not prior to."

The woman went to university health services simply to get a morning-after pill to prevent pregnancy, DeBoef said. He said a physical examination showed no bruising or other signs of an attack.

Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar said Phillips' own testimony showed that he failed to respond when the woman told him to stop, Gricar said.

Phillips had testified that he engaged in sexual intercourse with the woman, who has since left the university. But he said the sex was consensual and she was the initiator.

The woman testified that she kissed Phillips, so as not to hurt his feelings, but that he then pushed her down on her bed and began fondling and undressing her, even after she told him to stop. When she told him to stop, she said, he simply started touching a different part of her body.

The case has generated criticism of Penn State coach Joe Paterno, who allowed Phillips to play in the Capital One Bowl on Jan. 1, nearly three weeks after Phillips was expelled. Although the expulsion hearing was Dec. 13, the expulsion would not take effect until the spring semester began in mid-January.