Three Cedar Shoals High School students were charged in connection with an alleged rape that was said to have occurred last month in a school stairwell.
The alleged 15-year-old victim reportedly told Athens-Clarke County police that on Jan. 7, she willingly went with the three suspects into the stairwell in order to “hang out” with them because they were all friends.
But once they were in the stairwell, which is accessed through the school’s gymnasium, one of the suspects sexually assaulted her while the others watched or helped to restrain the victim, according to police.
The victim reportedly did not consented to having sex with any of the suspects.
“She made it known she did not want this to be happening,” said Lt. Jeff Clark, commanding officer of the Athens-Clarke County police Sex Crimes Unit.
The victim reported the alleged assault that same day to a school administrator, and the three suspects were rounded up by school district police for initial questioning.
The matter was turned over to the county police department’s Criminal Investigations Division for further investigation. Warrants were subsequently obtained by a Sex Crimes Unit investigator, with two of the suspects being arrested Saturday and the third on Monday.
Police identified the suspects as follows:
Jaivous Malik Collins, 17, charged with rape and being a party to the crime of criminal attempt to commit aggravated sodomy with force; Markel Dereek Brannon, 18, charged with being party to the crime of rape and party to the crime of criminal attempt to commit aggravated sodomy with force; and Xavier Marquise Clarke, 18, charged with being a party to the crime of rape and criminal attempt to commit aggravated sodomy with force.
All three students are held at the Clarke County Jail without any bail being set for the alleged offenses.
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