Mark Millican
markmillican@daltoncitizen.com
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A Dalton teenager who was charged with molesting a younger teen in December was found not guilty on Tuesday by a jury in Whitfield County Superior Court.
Nathaniel Blake Porter, 18, was charged by the sheriff’s office in March. Judge William Boyett presided over the trial and sent the jury out Friday afternoon to render a verdict but later dismissed the jury for the long weekend, said District Attorney Kermit McManus.
“(Her) initial outcry was rape, but it turned out it was not rape, it was volitional,” he said. “She was under 16 ... they knew each other from riding the school bus, as I understand it.”
Porter’s attorney, Jerry Moncus of Dalton, said the charges came about as a result of “false accusations.”
“The jury’s verdict was the correct verdict given the evidence,” he said. “It was the proper verdict. They evaluated everything like they should have and did the only thing that was possible after reviewing the evidence.”
