Athens-Clarke County police are investigating the possible sexual assault of a female University of Georgia student.
They announced Tuesday they’d made an arrest in connection to the case, accusing an Athens man of using the woman’s bank cards.
According to a police report, the 20-year-old woman last remembered drinking with friends in downtown Athens just before midnight Thursday. She told police she woke up on cardboard boxes near a homeless man who was touching himself behind her.
The student realized that her black skirt was inside out and she could not find her phone or purse, the police report said. She fixed her skirt in a public bathroom and was escorted home by “two kind older homeless men” around sunrise.
She contacted police and could not recall any sexual acts taking place “but was generally unsure,” according to the report. It was unclear from the police report whether the woman sought or received medical attention.
Police found the woman’s description of her location – “cardboard boxes by some white marble pillars on a landing above white marble stairs” – matched City Hall.
At City Hall, police spoke to a homeless man who recalled seeing a female dressed in black talking to three or four men in front of City Hall late that evening. The police report lists a homeless individual as a suspect. The man was charged with financial transaction card theft, financial transaction card fraud, and identity fraud.
Court papers belonging to the man were found near the scene of the alleged crime, according to the police report.
Tuesday’s media release does not allege the man was involved in the possible assault. It states that additional charges may be forthcoming as the investigation continues.
On Saturday, UGA sent out a community notification saying detectives had identified and were questioning a person of interest.
“There is no higher priority than the safety and security of our students, and university officials are currently working directly with the student and her family to provide support,” the university said in a statement to the AJC. It added that over the past decade, UGA has invested more than $30 million in safety and security enhancements on campus, including a rideshare program that has provided more than 354,000 rides since 2021.
State Rep. Houston Gaines, R-Athens, posted about the incident on social media Saturday. He blamed the Athens-Clarke County Commission for voting down an ordinance earlier in August “aimed at addressing the rampant and growing homelessness problem in our community.”
“This is unacceptable. For too long, Athens-Clarke County has allowed homelessness, encampments, and other serious problems in our public spaces to grow while refusing to take meaningful action,” wrote Gaines, a candidate for U.S. Congress.
The ordinance would have prohibited public camping, sleeping and lying on sidewalks. It failed in a 6-4 vote earlier this month. Critics of the proposal argued it effectively criminalized homelessness.
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