By Joe Johnson
Two men this week were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a University of Georgia student last month who they met outside of a bar in dowtown Athens.
Colby Dalton McElroy, 19, of Elberton, and Maison Parker Waldroup, 19, of River Chase Drive in Athens were arrested Wednesday on UGA police warrants for sexual battery, and Athens-Clarke County police said that their detectives are conducting a related rape investigation involving the same victim and suspects.
“Those charges are from the UGA investigation regarding what took place en route to the incident location we are investigating,” ACCPD Public Information Officer Lt. Jody Thompson said on Friday. “Basically, they committed sexual battery against her while walking to the location of the alleged rape. Our detectives are still working on the rape investigation which occurred in our jurisdiction."
According to reports, county police were notified about the alleged assault when it was reported from when she was at Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center on May 29.
She reportedly told ACCPD officers that she had been attacked early the morning of May 14, and did not immediately contact the police because she did not want her parents to know what happened to her and because she left Athens for home the day after the incident allegedly occurred.
An ACCPD report indicates that the 22-year-old student related that she was leaving a bar in downtown Athens at about 12:30 a.m. on May 14 when she literally bumped into McElroy and Waldroup, striking up a conversation upon gathering up items that fell from her purse. The student alleged that the young men introduced themselves by their first names, saying they were fraternal twins, police said, and she remembered walking with them toward Sanford Stadium, falling a few times along the way. After falling in the vicinity of East Campus and River roads, she reportedly told police, the suspects groped her and one of them put his penis in her mouth.
The student said she and the suspects then got into a car that she described as a gray Kia sedan, according to the police report, and took her to REDACTED like she asked.”
“They entered into the private parking lot of REDACTED. There are security cameras located at the entrance of the parking lot which would capture a possible tag and another camera that could have captured the driver’s face,” the police report noted.
According to the report, the suspects were granted a request for water from inside the student’s home, where they both allegedly had intercourse and oral sex despite the student’slack of consent.
The student told police that one of her roommates was home at the time, and that she believed “they got scared because Maison made a comment about hearing voices and suggested they leave,” according to the police report.
The report noted that the responding officers turned over the case to detectives, and they preserved as evidence a sheet that was on the bed during the alleged assault.
According to a UGApolice report released on Wednesday, the student said that the suspects had not sodomized her on university property, though she maintained that they groped her breasts and groin near the UGA football stadium, and the suspects raped her at The Mark Athens student apartments on Oconee Street.
Both suspects were released from custody at the county jail several hours after being arrested, McElroy upon posting a $1,300 bond, and Waldroup posting a $1,000 bond.
Anyone who has been sexually assaulted or knows someone who has can contact The Cottage Sexual Assault Center and Children's Advocacy Center. The agency provides a range of free services to child and adult victims of sexual and physical abuse, including medical care, legal advocacy, referrals, counseling and support groups. The Cottage also maintains a 24-hour crisis and information hotline at (877) 363-1912. For more information visit www.northgeorgiacottage.org.