A judge found a Madison man guilty Wednesday of sexually
assaulting a University of Wisconsin student in her Langdon Street apartment in
August 2006.

Paul Aud, 34, was found guilty of all charges brought
against him, including second-degree sexual assault, substantial battery and
confine without consent.

Aud has previously been accused of lascivious behavior in
public, bail jumping and possessing marijuana. He is to be sentenced later this
month.

"To me, as finder of facts, [the defense's] explanation has
no common sense or credibility," Judge John Markson said. "The more credible
version is exactly [the prosecution's] testimony."

According to Assistant District Attorney Lana Mades, the
student said she walked back to her apartment on the early morning of Aug. 23,
2006, when a man followed her into the stairwell of her building, threw her to
the ground and beat her.

The girl suffered several strokes to her left eye tissue,
which prosecution said were probably meant to knock the victim unconscious.

The student fought back, rolling down flights of stairs with
the defendant, who knocked her glasses off her face. Half conscious, the
student realized she was about to be raped as Aud struggled with his pants
button.

"I woke up, something kicked in my mind," Mades said,
quoting the victim. "I kept thinking I was not going to let this happen."

According to Markson, the victim kicked at Aud’s groin, so
Aud panicked and left the building.

The student testified to not consuming alcohol or drugs that
night, though Aud, who Markson said was a heavy drinker, admitted to consuming
"large quantities of alcohol" prior to the incident.

"We can't look into the mind [of the defendant], but he was
clearly there to do violence," Markson said. "He admits drinking exceptional
amounts of alcohol and was very intoxicated. Taking the word of someone who had
nothing to drink versus someone who drank to the extent that he has is a very
important factor."

Police attained DNA from the victim's glasses, which later
matched a cigarette Aud threw away during questioning last year.

According to defense attorney Corey Chirafisi, Aud did not
intend to rape the victim or do anything sexual.

"[Committing] bodily harm was essentially admitted,"
Chirafisi said. "Aud went specifically to beat her up. There's no doubt about
that."

Markson ruled Aud would have raped the victim if she hadn't fought
back. He cited, based on previous Madison sexual assault cases, a defendant is
still guilty if a secondary party — in this case, her physical defense —
intercepted his actions.

"[The victim] had an absolute reason to believe she was
going to be sexually assaulted," Mades said. "That's what he intended to do
until she had the courage to fight back."