Steven Edward Simon Jr., 40, of Austin pleaded not guilty on Monday in Mower County District Court to felony first-degree criminal sexual conduct-penetration-personal injury-force or coercion and felony third-degree criminal sexual conduct-force or coercion.

Simon was arrested Nov. 6 after a woman alerted police that her friend was likely the victim of a sexual assault. The court complaint states police spoke to the victim, who said she and Simon had been smoking marijuana at her residence when Simon told her she “deserves better” than her boyfriend and expressed his desire to “fool around.”

She said although she told him “no,” he raped her. She said she didn’t fight back because he was bigger and she was scared of him.

After the incident, the victim said she took a bath because she felt “dirty.” She had thrown away the clothes she was wearing at the time and police collected them from the trash as evidence. The victim complained of pain and was later taken to the hospital.

The victim’s boyfriend said she was very upset when he came home, but would not tell him why. He later examined her phone and found text messages she had sent to her friend about the incident.

When Simon was arrested, he said the victim’s boyfriend “must have found out about the affair,” according to the court complaint.

A pre-trial has been scheduled for March 29.