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Jury finds man guilty of sexually assaulting student

Posted at 10:35 AM, Jul 02, 2016
and last updated 2016-07-02 11:35:04-04
 LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) -- A jury has convicted a Neenah man of sexually assaulting an unconscious high school student in La Crosse.
 
   The La Crosse Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/29gMKDr ) the jury deliberated about two hours Friday before finding 32-year-old Benjamin Wendler guilty of second-degree sexual assault.
 
   According to a criminal complaint, Wendler took the 18-year-old student to a party in La Crescent, Minnesota, in May 2014. The woman drank until she got sick. Friends told police they put her in bed at Wendler's La Crosse apartment because she couldn't walk. The woman said she woke up to find Wendler sexually assaulting her.
 
   Wendler's attorney, Todd Schroeder, argued the sex was consensual and the woman's testimony wasn't consistent with what she told police.
 
   Wendler faces up to 40 years in prison when he's sentenced Sept. 27.