Ex-University of Delaware athlete found guilty of rape

GEORGETOWN, Del. (AP) — An ex-University of Delaware baseball player accused of a string of sexual assaults was convicted Friday in the first case brought to jurors, who found that he raped a woman he met online but declined to apply the harshest charge.

After a 10-day trial, the jury deliberated for about three hours before finding 23-year-old Clay Conaway of Georgetown guilty of fourth-degree rape. Conaway, who faced a possible life sentence if convicted of first-degree rape, was taken away in handcuffs as friends and relatives wept.

Fourth-degree rape carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, but no mandatory prison time. The charge is defined as intentional penetration with any object or body part without consent. Sentences for this type of offense typically carry imprisonment of between zero and 30 months. Sentencing will take place at a later date.

"The message today is no means no," Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings said in a statement, adding that Conaway's accuser "endured needless disrespect and insinuations about her integrity."

The 21-year-old woman, who cried after the verdict was read, declined to comment as she and her family left the courthouse.

She is among six women whom Conaway, 23, is charged with sexually assaulting between 2013 and 2018. A judge ordered separate trials involving each accuser.

Conaway was charged last year with second-degree rape of five other women in Sussex County, where his family lives. One of those cases was dismissed by prosecutors. Additionally, he faces attempted second-degree rape and strangulation charges involving a fellow University of Delaware student in Newark, which resulted in a complaint filed with the university's Title IX office. Conaway is scheduled to stand trial again in December in one of...