A University of Wisconsin-La Crosse student held at the Dane County Jail for four days after an alleged sexual assault at the Mifflin Street Block Party was released Tuesday after the district attorney declined to prosecute the case.
Police took Bebeto Yewah, 20, into custody on Saturday for the tentative felony charge of third-degree sexual assault of a 19-year-old female UW student, according to Madison Police Department spokesperson Joel DeSpain.
DeSpain said Yewah and the UW student attended a house party on Mifflin Street.
“[The alleged victim] said she was looking for her friends, and he offered to help find them,” DeSpain said.
Both Yewah and the UW student went into the basement of the house, and according to DeSpain, this was where the allegedly non-consensual sexual contact took place.
The woman reported the incident to police, who were able to find Yewah walking on Mifflin Street around 5 p.m. using a description and photograph the alleged victim provided.
At the time of his arrest, Yewah said the sexual encounter was consensual.
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, representative for the district that includes Mifflin Street, said he was disturbed after hearing about the alleged incident.
“I felt awkward declaring this weekend’s annual event a success knowing that it was likely that a sexual assault had occurred,” Verveer said. “The DA’s office couldn’t produce sufficient evidence to secure formal charges, but what I will say is that there was enough evidence for Madison police detectives to believe they had probable cause to arrest the UW-La Crosse student.”
According to DeSpain in an interview before Yewah was released from jail, arrests do not always lead to criminal charges.
“Just because we’ve arrested somebody on a tentative charge, it doesn’t mean that the DA’s office finds that there’s going to be probable cause to charge the guy,” DeSpain said. “The burden of proof for us is much less than for the DA’s office.”
A Dane County Jail official confirmed Yewah was released after the district attorney declined to press charges.
District Attorney Brian Blanchard did not return calls as of press time.
