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	Priest Aquitted in Sex-assault Case WHBL December 6, 2011 http://whbl.com/news/articles/2011/dec/06/preist-aquitted-in-sex-assault-case/ MADISON (WSAU) A Madison priest has been found innocent of sexually assaulting a girl in 2004, when she was 14. A Dane County jury deliberated for 10 hours before acquitting 65-year-old Joseph Clauder of second-degree child sexual assault. Prosecutors said Clauder touched the girl's genital area outside her clothes while in a bedroom of the girl's Madison home in 2004 -- and he allegedly did the same thing at a hotel in Stevens Point at a family event in late 2003. Assistant District Attorney Robert Kaiser told the jury that the victim's psychological pain is proof of what happened, and her testimony proved that she did not have a motive to lie. But defense lawyer Stephen Eisenberg said the woman -- now 22 -- was remembering things incorrectly because of events over the years that ranged from questions by therapists to her own dreams. And he said the Stevens Point incident never happened. Eisenberg said the state did not prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. Clauder has not had a public church role since 1999, after being accused of sexual misconduct involving an adult woman.
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