A Baltimore man was acquitted this week of rape in a case prosecutors previously dropped after a woman reported she could no longer afford to keep missing work to testify at trial.

Derwin Cox, 51, of Upper Fells Point, was found not guilty on Tuesday in Baltimore Circuit Court of second-degree rape, third- and fourth-degree sex offense, home invasion and related offenses at the end of a two-day trial. The jury deliberated for less than one hour.

Circuit Judge Barry G. Williams presided over the case.

In a statement, Maryland Public Defender Natasha Dartigue said Cox’s attorneys, Assistant Public Defenders Judit Otvos and Janet Andersen, “delivered an exemplary defense that exposed the truth and vindicated an innocent man.”

“This exoneration restores not only our client’s freedom but his reputation and dignity,” Dartigue said. “The people of Baltimore City, serving as jurors, saw through the prosecution’s baseless case, delivered total vindication and recognized our client as a victim of wrongful accusation, not a perpetrator of crime.”

Through his attorneys, Cox declined to comment.

Baltimore State’s Attorney Ivan Bates said the case demonstrated his office’s willingness to “take on a multitude of cases for victims, from the not-as-challenging to extremely complicated cases, on behalf of victims in Baltimore, in the pursuit of justice.”

“While this outcome is not the one we or the victim had hoped for, we will continue to show up daily to fight and advocate for the victims of crime in Baltimore,” Bates said in a statement.

Cox met up with with a woman named Jessica for dinner at a seafood restaurant on May 22, 2023, and they later went out for drinks. He offered to walk her home on the outskirts of Patterson Park.

(The Banner does not name people without their permission who report that they’re survivors of sexual assault. Jessica asked to only be identified by her first name.)

Later, Cox raped her, Jessica told Baltimore Police. Meanwhile, Cox maintained that the encounter was consensual.

Prosecutors dropped the case in 2024 after a series of delays that were outside of Jessica’s control.

Assistant State’s Attorney Robert Render reported that Jessica indicated to him that she “lost enough money that she simply cannot afford to be here.”

Several months later, law enforcement moved to refile the charges. Detectives spoke to an additional witness who reported that Jessica stated Cox had raped her.

In an interview on Thursday, Jessica said she cannot mentally process the verdict and wants to start therapy. She testified at the trial.

Next summer, she said, she plans to leave the country.