1 Gilmer suspect faces new charges

photo Gilmer County Sheriff Stacy Nicholson speaks at a news conference about the arrest of three men on sexual battery and aggravated sexual battery charges following an incident after the Calhoun High School prom in this file photo. Standing with him are detectives Kirk Champion and Scott Camp.

The Gilmer County, Ga., sheriff says one of the Calhoun High School sexual battery suspects will "most probably" be charged with another crime.

But he won't say which of the 18-year-olds faces that charge: Fields Benjamin Chapman, Andrew Isaac Haynes or Damon Avery Johnson. He also won't say what that charge might be.

On Tuesday, Gilmer County Sheriff Stacy Nicholson told the local newspaper, The Times-Courier, that more charges are pending in the investigation of a party that took place after Calhoun High School's prom.

"I will tell you this -- most probably additional charges will come against one that has already been arrested," the sheriff was quoted as saying.

An 18-year-old woman told police that she had been raped at that party on May 11. The sheriff's office charged Chapman, Haynes and Johnson with aggravated sexual battery last week. Nicholson said at the time that more charges were pending, potentially for other students who he said were drinking alcohol.

Nicholson did not return multiple calls Wednesday seeking clarification.

Last week, Nicholson said Chapman, Haynes and Johnson could also face rape charges (as opposed to sexual battery, which involves a foreign object, not intercourse).

Capt. Frank Copeland, spokesman, said Wednesday results from forensic evidence in the Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime lab could take months.

Calhoun Police Lt. Tony Pyle said Chapman and Haynes were already on probation for possession of alcohol before the prom. According to incident reports, Haynes was detained in February after showing up drunk to a high school basketball game, and three weeks before the prom police found bottles of whiskey and Four Loko in a car Chapman and other students had been sitting in.

Haynes' attorney, Steve Williams, did not return calls seeking comment Wednesday. But Johnson's attorney, Jesse Vaughn, said he has not heard anything from the sheriff's office since Johnson's arrest last week.

"I don't know what he's talking about," Vaughn said of Nicholson's comment. "If it relates to our guy, we'll deal with it as it comes."

Contact staff writer Tyler Jett at 423-757-6476 or at tjett@timesfreepress.com

Upcoming Events