Macon man acquitted of rape, convicted of battery

A 51-year-old Macon man was acquitted of an allegation that he raped a 67-year-old Macon woman, but he was convicted of battery, according to the Bibb County District Attorney’s Office.

Larry Daniel Matthews, of Hightower Road, was sentenced Thursday to serve three years in prison on the battery charge and a violation of probation after a trial in Bibb County Superior Court, prosecutor Nancy Scott Malcor said.

In March 2010, the woman and Matthews were at a shot house and left together. The next day, the woman reported that she’d been beaten and raped. She had been intoxicated, Malcor said.

Matthews denied beating the woman and said the sex was consensual, she said.

Testimony was presented at trial that the woman was beaten, but when the woman testified, she said she didn’t remember what happened, Malcor said.

This story was originally published April 29, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Macon man acquitted of rape, convicted of battery."