Man found guilty on sexual assault charges

It took a jury of 10 women and two men less than 90 minutes Friday evening to convict David Stone of two counts of raping a 12-year-old boy.

The sentence for that crime, the most serious category of felony in Nevada, is life with possible parole after 35 years in prison.

That means Stone would be 97 when he gets his first chance at release from prison.

The panel began deliberations shortly after 5 p.m. following closing arguments. The call indicating they had a verdict came before 6:30 p.m.

Assistant District Attorney Mark Krueger said the victim’s testimony was “precise and detailed about the assault.”

He said the boy, now 15, had no reason to lie about what happened when he stayed overnight at Stone’s Carson City home on Oct. 27-28, 2011.

He called on jurors to focus on the single piece of physical evidence in the case — a blue rag found in the headboard cabinet of Stone’s bed with the boy’s semen and DNA on it.

“Why would he make all this up,” he asked. “Common sense alone tells you this happened.”

But defense counsel Ben Walker argued there was no physical evidence of sexual assault and the victim’s behavior in the days after the alleged rape was unchanged.

“The next day, he celebrated Nevada Day and sits there and watches the parade with a man who he says raped him two days in a row,” Walker told the panel of 10 women and two men.

“He had such a good time he wanted to spend Saturday night at David Stone’s house.”

Walker said it makes no sense the boy would go to Denny’s for breakfast after being assaulted and not try to escape and that it makes no sense which, after the alleged attacks, he went into the other room and played computer games instead of fleeing.

He argued common sense says the assault didn’t happen.

Krueger agreed the boy’s testimony was hesitant and confusing on some details but he said that’s almost certainly because young victims of sexual assault don’t want to talk about it, “especially young boys.”

He said it’s common for them not to report an assault immediately and common for there to be no physical signs of the attack.

He said the victim was confused about details in his testimony because, “he was talking about details he didn’t want to talk about.”

He also pointed out under the law the testimony of a sexual assault victim is all a jury needs to convict, that other evidence isn’t necessary.

Russell did not set a date for sentencing after Friday’s verdict. Stone, who has been free on bail, was immediately taken into custody.