Albert Wilson, now 24 was sentenced to more than 12 years of prison for the rape of a 17-year-old girl he met at a bar near the University of Kansas Campus.
On 10 September 2016, Wilson was at a bar where he met then 17-year-old girl who was visiting a family member who attended KU. Both of them were below the age level required, Wilson was then 20 years old. The couple was seen kissing in the club. They left the club son after to go to Wilson’s place and that’s when the story took a turn.
The case gained nationwide attention including supporters creating a website(Free Albert Wilson), with details of some questionable aspects of the incident. Video surveillance showed the two engaging with one another throughout their encounter and that they were only at the apartment for five minutes before they headed back to the bar.
The woman said that Wilson took her back to his room where he raped her but Albert Wilson shared a different story with the jury, he said: “She didn’t seem intoxicated at all.” Wilson claimed they kissed and engage in other sex acts but never had sexual intercourse.
Kansan Bureau of investigation scientists testified that Wilson’s DNA was only found on the place – where he said he kissed her – girl’s chest – but no seminal fluid or DNA was found. A nurse took collected the swab from her after the day of the incident and photos were also taken to bruises on her inner thigh.
The woman said she began having panic attacks after the incident, and she was unable to eat or sleep, and that caused her to lose about 20 pounds.
Throughout the trial, Wilson maintained his innocence but was eventually found guilty. Wilson was given over 12 years in prison, a lifetime of probation, and a mandatory sex offender.
After Albert Wilson was sentenced to 12 years in prison many came in Wilson’s support and spoke about the court case.
https://t.co/fky0a98ELT no forensic evidence that a rape even happened but the testimony from a white girl to a black kids word is a case closer by far in America! Somebody help this kid that’s a shame! @VanJones68
— Meek Mill (@MeekMill) April 10, 2019
I didn’t personally know Albert but I am good friends with people who do know him. They are nothing but wonderful, kind, loving and selfless people and I assume the same traits about Albert. Please pray for this INNOCENT man and his family. #FREEALBERTWILSON https://t.co/Lq8gGIUPIj
— Anastasia Krasuski 🏈 (@ana_krasuskiNFL) April 4, 2019
I didn’t personally know Albert but I am good friends with people who do know him. They are nothing but wonderful, kind, loving and selfless people and I assume the same traits about Albert. Please pray for this INNOCENT man and his family. #FREEALBERTWILSON https://t.co/Lq8gGIUPIj
— Anastasia Krasuski 🏈 (@ana_krasuskiNFL) April 4, 2019
How does the jury convict of rape when a physical vaginal exam was done shortly after alleged crime and showed no DNA? And when surveillance video appears to counter her version that she was stumbling, incoherent, and led away? All-white… https://t.co/F51fsqUfAT
— Serious Jest (@SeriousJest) April 4, 2019
This makes me SICK. I’m all for women getting justice, but this girl blatantly LIED. This man is INNOCENT. Don’t @ me. https://t.co/CYBEd5ngq8
— Kailey Ogden (@teaamplasstic) April 4, 2019
“I don’t know how to explain this, but I come from a different background than you, ma’am,” said Wilson during the trial, he maintained his innocence and explained to why he initially claimed that he didn’t remember why he didn’t remember what happened at his apartment.
The victim’s mother told the jury that her daughter cried all the time and couldn’t go to school which was not common, “She hasn’t done that, since she was a baby.”
The woman told the jury that she was visiting her cousin on the weekend of Sept 10, 2016, she told that Wilson approached her inside the bar, and they started talking and moved to another area, away from her cousin, then he kissed her and then assaulted her, she said.
She told that Wilson asked her if she wanted to spend the night at this place to which she refused and said that she needed to find her cousin, but Wilson persisted and convinced her to go outside and then call her cousin.
She said that she was too drunk to realize what was going on, and she did not know where Wilson was taking her, and she was focused on her feet to make sure she is walking correctly.
She laughed in the court while describing how she was unable to walk straight, but when she began speaking about how Wilson led her to his room, she couldn’t stop crying and had to take breaks during her testimony.
The woman said she lost dropped her phone when she was attempting to text her cousin, while they were climbing stairs. When she realized what his intentions were she began to tell him that she was too drunk, and she needed to leave to find her cousin, but Wilson led her to his room. She said she felt too dizzy to get up and just “froze” lying on the bed.
When Wilson’s attorney asked the woman why she did not put up the struggle, she said that she could not fight it anymore because Wilson would not listen to her when she said no.
After six-hour deliberation, the all-white jury convicted Wilson of rape. Albert Wilson was given the reported “lowest end of what’s called for by Kansas sentencing guidelines for rape.” Many questioned why Wilson was given a lengthy sentence while actual convicted rapists like Brock Turner were given lighted sentences.
His court appointer attorney Forrest Lowry stated that Wilson wasn’t the man he was painted to be in the trial. Wilson was a Wichita Southeast Hight School football player with no criminal record. Wilson had dreams of becoming a sports journalist.
On May 14, 2019, Albert Wilson appealed his case, he filed a motion for what’s called a “Van Cleave.” “
A Van Cleave hearing is used when it becomes apparent that a defendant’s trial counsel was ineffective. The procedure allows a district court to decide whether ineffective assistance, in fact, occurred.”
Albert Wilson is currently an inmate at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility, his earliest possible release date is May 1, 2029. Albert, who some believe was wrongly convicted of rape in Lawrence could get a new trial.
