Axel R. Bordelon is pictured during a sex-crimes trial on Feb. 8, 2023, in Douglas County District Court.

A Douglas County jury returned a mixed verdict on Thursday for a former Lawrence resident, finding him guilty of some sex crimes against a former friend and work associate, but acquitting him of other crimes and failing to agree on still others.

Axel R. Bordelon, 30, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was charged in Douglas County District Court with one felony count of rape of a 19-year-old woman, one felony count of attempted rape, three felony counts of aggravated criminal sodomy and two felony counts of aggravated sexual battery, according to charging documents. The charges were in connection with a series of events alleged to have occurred about nine years ago, when Bordelon lived in Lawrence.

The jury deliberated for nearly 14 hours over two days before returning a guilty verdict around 4 p.m. Thursday on two felony counts of aggravated sexual battery and not-guilty verdicts on one count of attempted rape and one count of criminal sodomy. The jury was unable to agree on the remaining rape and sodomy charges. Judge Sally Pokorny asked the jurors if they could come to an agreement on the remaining charges if they deliberated further, but they indicated that they would be unable to agree.

A 27-year-old woman testified Tuesday that Bordelon sexually assaulted her several times throughout the second half of 2014 as they worked on a comic book project together but that she didn’t report the crimes to police out of compassion for Bordelon and out of a desire to see the comic book project become successful, as the Journal-World reported.

photo by: Douglas County Sheriff’s Office

Axel R. Bordelon

Bordelon’s gender identity in 2014 was male, and he used the pronouns he/him, but Bordelon told the Journal-World Wednesday that their gender identity is now nonbinary and that they use the pronouns they/them. Bordelon was referred to as “Mx. Bordelon” by counsel during the trial.

Bordelon’s defense attorney, Hatem Chahine, said in closing arguments Wednesday that the relationship between Bordelon and the woman was a “dating” situation and that the sexual contact between them was all consensual.

“What do you call people who come from different paths who hang out together all the time and share interests? It’s called dating. Whether you’re asexual, heterosexual or transgender,” Chahine said.

Chahine said that the woman continued to allow Bordelon to share a bed with her even after she said he assaulted her and that she only reported the assaults more than five years later because she had grown bitter about how the comic book project ended. He said the woman had invested thousands of dollars into the project but it was not successful.

The prosecution, represented by Assistant District Attorneys Ricardo Leal and Samantha Foster, argued that the woman, who was a teenager at the time of the alleged crimes and asexual, did not consider Bordelon a romantic interest and did not report the crimes because it wasn’t until later, with the “growth” that occurs between the teenage years and young adulthood, that she understood she could do something about what had happened to her.

In the state’s closing arguments, Leal referenced an interview with Bordelon conducted by Lawrence Police Detective Charles Cottengim. Leal told the jury that at no point during that interview did Bordelon outright deny the woman’s allegations. Leal highlighted a quote in Bordelon’s interview:

“There’s large parts of me that want to say I didn’t do this and there’s large parts of me that know I cannot say that with certainty,” Bordelon said during his interview with police.

“Watch the interview. See if you can see a denial in there,” Leal told the jury as he ended his closing argument.

At one point during deliberations Wednesday, the jury asked the court for guidance on the legal definition of “consent.” The jurors were told to use their common knowledge and experience to answer that question for themselves.

Pokorny scheduled Bordelon’s next court date for March 1 for a status conference. Meanwhile, the state will determine whether to retry the counts that the jury could not agree on. Leal asked Pokorny to remand Bordelon, who has been free on bond, into custody, but Pokorny declined, noting that Bordelon has not missed a court appearance so far and that she had no reason to revoke Bordelon’s bond.

Both Leal and Chahine declined to comment on the verdicts Thursday.

According to a news release from the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office, Bordelon faces a sentence of between 31 and 136 months for each count of aggravated sexual battery and will have to register as a sex offender for 25 years.