NORWICH – Following a two-day sex crime trial at the Chenango County Courthouse, a jury returned after two hours of deliberations and declared the defendant not guilty.

Clarence A. Brown Jr., 35, of Pitcher, was found not guilty of all three charges against him: first degree sexual abuse, a D class felony, third degree sexual abuse, a sex crime misdemeanor, and endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor.

Assistant Public Defender Diane M. DiStefano said the case lacked any physical evidence and was an instance of “his word against hers.”

Brown was arrested April 5, 2010 by the Chenango County Sheriff’s Office after he allegedly molested a sleeping 20-year-old woman. According to police, Brown climbed into bed with the woman and her four-year-old child at around 4 a.m. a few days earlier, on April 1, and put his hand inside the alleged victim’s pants.

During the trial, Brown took the stand in his own defense and denied even being in the room at the time of the alleged incident. He claimed to have gone into the room at just before 7 a.m. after a child being dropped off for baby-sitting disturbed him sleeping on the couch. He said he went into the woman’s bedroom and laid on top of the blanket with a four-year-old child between him and the alleged victim. Unable to get back to sleep, he said he got back up a few minutes later and left.