SALISBURY — A former Catawba College athlete pleaded guilty this week to a sexual assault at the college in 2012.

Matthew Steven Stewart, 26, accepted an Alford plea and was sentenced to 18 months of supervised probation.

He could have served six to 17 months in prison but received a suspended sentence, which includes submitting to a mental health assessment and DNA sampling.

Stewart was charged in April 2012 with felony second-degree rape after a woman, who was also a Catawba College student, said he sexually assaulted her in a dorm stairwell after a party. He was convicted of felony crimes against nature.

In an Alford plea, the court treats the defendant as being guilty whether or not he admits guilt.

Stewart and his girlfriend, whom the victim knew, were fighting, investigators said. He was talking to the victim about the argument. Stewart kissed the victim and then forced himself on her, though she told him to stop. Stewart and the victim were not friends or acquaintances.

The victim, 25, whom the Post is not naming, said she is satisfied with the outcome of the case and feels that, in a way, justice was served.

“I ran the risk with going to trial and a jury not reaching a unanimous decision and him walking away,” she said.

She said the plea hearing gave her a sense of closure because for nearly six years she has been waiting for the case to go to trial.

“The whole time we’ve been unsure,” she said of her family. “My family is very happy that something was done and we can finally put it behind us.”

She said there were some false starts and stops in the case. She said Stewart was offered a plea deal before this week.

She said the constant waiting and the unknown kept her in limbo, but the whole time she was preparing herself mentally and emotionally for a trial.

She does not know why Stewart decided to accept a plea arrangement this week, but “I was glad he did,” she said.

“When I got the call that he was going to plead guilty, it was a shock for me,” she said.

The woman said it did relieve some fears after Stewart was kicked out of school, but she still moved off campus because she needed her own space.

A Catawba College student conduct board found that Stewart was not responsible for sexually assaulting the woman, a decision she appealed. An appellate board agreed with the conduct board’s findings. The victim said she is not upset with Catawba College about that outcome.

“I knew the whole time I was going to court. I know some of the board is made up of students. When they decided he was not allowed on campus, that was enough at the time. I didn’t need their validation,” she said of the conduct board.

She completed her degree at Catawba and graduated in 2014.

Contact reporter Shavonne Walker at 704-797-4253.