Anchorage jury acquits Glennallen dentist of 4 felony sexual assault charges

A former Glennallen dentist charged with sexually assaulting a woman during a 2013 business trip to Anchorage was acquitted Wednesday.

Kevin Brent Shedlock, 44, was found not guilty of four felony sexual assault charges by an Anchorage jury, the Alaska Dispatch News reported (http://bit.ly/1vAuSr3).

The jury delivered its verdict after deliberating for two days. Defense attorney James Christie said afterward that Shedlock should never have been charged.

"This case represents a troubling lack of judgment by the district attorney's office in bringing these charges," Christie said. "It also stands for the proposition that a citizen jury can serve as a check against government overreach."

Glennallen is a community of about 500 at the junction of the Richardson and Glenn Highways, about 160 miles northeast of Anchorage.

Shedlock was the only dentist at the Copper River Native Association's Wrangell Mountain Dental Clinic. On Aug. 25, 2013, he was in Anchorage to attend an annual conference of the Copper River Native Association.

According to prosecutors, he attended a business meeting and afterward met for drinks with a woman and others.

The woman told police she drank heavily and became violently ill. Investigators concluded that Shedlock escorted the woman to her hotel room and assaulted her.

Defense attorneys Christie and Wally Tetlow disputed that account. They argued the sex was consensual but that the woman later regretted the incident and reported it as an assault.

Prosecutor Clint Campion said he respected the jury's verdict.

"I stand by the arguments I made in front of the jury," he said. "I do think this is a case that should have been charged."

Shedlock voluntarily relinquished his Alaska dentistry credential and will seek to have it restored, Christie said.

"He's anxious to return to life as he knew it before charges were filed," he said.

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Information from: Alaska Dispatch News, http://www.adn.com