COLUMBIA, S.C., April 23 (UPI) -- A South Carolina jury cleared suspect Kenneth Glenn Hinson of charges of raping two 17-year-old girls in Darlington County, S.C.
It was alleged that Hinson raped the girls, bound them with duct tape and left them to die in a secret chamber where he kept marijuana, The State newspaper reported Monday.
After deliberating for three hours Sunday night, jurors rejected testimony from the girls and investigators ending the eight-day trial.
Hinson testified that the girls had consensual sex with him in the bunker the day before the allegations were made.
The verdict was a defeat for South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster, who singled out Hinson's case in an attempt to seek harsher punishments for rapists.
McMaster told The State he had strong evidence and it was well presented but, "In the end, it always boils down to a jury's decision."
