Former UW-Madison student found not guilty of third-degree sexual assault
By Gina Heeb | Jul. 26, 2017A former UW-Madison student was found not guilty Wednesday of a felony sexual assault charge, though he seemingly admitted to sexually assaulting a sleeping peer in a campus residence hall in 2015. Following a two-day trial, a jury in the Dane County Circuit Court ruled 21-year-old Nicholas Ralston of Shellsburg, Iowa will be acquitted of third-degree sexual assault. Ralston, who was expelled months after the assault, reportedly initiated nonconsensual oral sex with his roommate’s girlfriend in their Ogg Hall dorm room in April 2015, according to the criminal complaint. The victim and her boyfriend fell asleep on a futon in the dorm room after returning from a party around 1 a.m., the complaint said.