MADISON (WKOW) — A jury found former emergency medical technician Tim Ovadal not guilty Wednesday of second and fourth degree sexual assault.
He was accused of sexually assaulting a patient while she was being transported to Stoughton Hospital in 2019.
The verdict comes after three days of trial, where the patient, Ovadal and nurses at the hospital the patient was transported to all testified.
The patient testified after Ovadal removed an EKG sticker from her chest area, he massaged her breast and also sucked on it with this mouth. The Janesville woman, 64, also testified he exposed himself to her.
Ovadal told the courthe did not sexually assault her, but only did his job and delivered care. On-board video of the ambulance ride watched by jurors showed Ovadal doing nothing improper, although lights were off inside the ambulance shortly after the transport from Janesville St. Mary's Hospital to Stoughton began.
During jury deliberations, jurors were allowed to see the on-board video again.
"I think having the jury watch it a second time was incredibly important," Ovadal's attorney Julia Westley says.
Ovadal tells 27 News his acquittal ends a nightmarish time in his life.
"It's been a very tough two and a half years and I thank my family and my wife and Jesus Christ for getting me through it," Ovadal says.
During this case, Ovadal was barred from working in health care. He declines comment on whether he will return to the field.
During trial, prosecutors argued Ovadal positioned himself to block the camera from seeing his actions with the woman, and said DNA evidence supported her claims. The woman was taken by ambulance to Stoughton Hospital with a blood alcohol level of .37 and Westley argued the woman's information was unreliable.
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