photo by: Journal-World File Photo

The Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center, 111 E. 11th St., is pictured Sept. 27, 2019.

A judge has dismissed the case against a former University of Kansas student who was charged with rape, Douglas County District Court records indicate.

Stephen M. Owens, now 20, lived at Downs Hall at the time of the alleged rape, the Journal-World has reported. At the time he was charged, April 9, 2018, Owens was no longer listed as a KU student.

Prosecutor Cathy Eaton filed a motion to dismiss last week, and at a hearing Friday, the judge did so, court records indicate. The motion did not elaborate on the state’s reason for seeking the dismissal.

Owens had been charged with rape for allegedly assaulting a 19-year-old woman when she was unconscious or physically powerless on Oct. 6, 2017.

The police affidavit that had supported Owens’ arrest said both he and the woman told police they had several drinks at the Jayhawk Cafe, 1340 Ohio St. — aka The Hawk — in the hours prior to the alleged incident. In text messages between the two, as reported in the affidavit, Owens had told the woman afterward that they didn’t have sex; he wrote that he had asked, but she said no, she was drunk.

Owens’ defense attorney, Phil Stein, did not immediately respond to the Journal-World’s email Monday seeking comment, and the Douglas County district attorney’s office did not immediately respond to an email seeking more information about the reason for dismissal.