The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that three senior and student athletes of Calhoun High School has been indicted for the alleged sexual assault of a girl at a Gilmer County cabin. According to local police, two of the three students who were charged were under the influence of alcohol when the sexual assault happened.
On Wednesday morning, Fields Chapman, Avery Johnson, and Andrew Haynes had turned themselves in to the Gilmer County jail. The alleged sexual assault reportedly happened 18 days prior to the surrender of the three, Gilmer Sheriff Stacey Nicholson said.
Nicholson detailed about the sheriff's detectives' process into building a case against the three, telling reporters at a press conference in Ellijay, "As late as yesterday, we interviewed an individual and obtained very valuable information," he said Wednesday afternoon. "In a case, especially involving teenagers or young people, once you make an arrest, the information flow tends to shut down. We wanted to get all we could get before we put people in jail. This has been a very emotional case, certainly for the city of Calhoun and Calhoun High School. We have worked as fast as we could work to bring an end to this case. But we did not work on Calhoun's time or on the media's time line."
According to an incident report by the county police, the girl said that she was raped by multiple guys in the early hours on May 11 at a cabin in Coosawattee River Resort. The girl, who is aged 18, had been observed to receive substantial injuries from the assault.
The three accused are currently held in the county jail on a $51,000 bond each.
County police and officials received a beating for their initially apparent lack of action from locals who have heard about the sexual assault case. When police mentioned the influence of alcohol in the case, local columnist David Cook defended the victim, and said, "It's not about how much beer the teenagers drank after the prom. It's not about how much liquor or wine they had with them at their resort cabin party in the North Georgia woods. This is about sexual assault. And aggravated sexual battery. It's about three men - 18 years old, graduating seniors - who police say committed sexual battery against an 18-year-old woman. A classmate. A graduating senior, just like them."
Calhoun High School has also issued a statement in response to the arrest of the senior students, saying that the three will no longer attend commencement ceremonies.
