A former CIA officer-trainee was acquitted by a Virginia jury Wednesday of charges that he attacked a female colleague in a stairwell, accusations that spurred a flood of sexual misconduct complaints and reforms at the spy agency.

Prosecutors said Ashkan Bayatpour came up behind a fellow trainee in the stairwell at CIA’s Langley, Virginia, headquarters in 2022, wrapped a scarf around her neck and tried to kiss her while making threatening remarks.

Bayatpour appealed last summer after he was convicted by a judge of the same misdemeanor assault and battery charge. Under Virginia law, the Alabama native and former Navy intelligence officer was entitled to a full jury trial in Fairfax County. The panel deliberated several hours Wednesday before its verdict.

“I’m grateful that a jury of my peers believed me and found me not guilty,” said the 40-year-old Bayatpour, who resigned from the CIA after the earlier conviction in the case. “Being falsely accused for the last two years has been a nightmare. My family and I have had so much of our peace, joy, privacy and security stolen from us, and my focus now is putting my life back together after this ordeal.”