Exactly 12 years after a young woman’s sexual assault allegations brought national media attention to a rural Northwest Georgia community, a judge dismissed the indictments.
In May 2014, a woman accused three Calhoun High School students of sexually assaulting her while she was passed out in a bedroom. The incident happened at an alcohol-fueled post-prom party in Ellijay, Georgia, which is nearly an hour’s drive northeast of Calhoun.
Investigators said that all three males assaulted the woman, causing bruising, swelling and lacerations to her sexual organs. All three men then faced multiple charges of aggravated sexual battery, aggravated battery, sexual battery and public indecency.
The defendants denied guilt, and the only witness to the incident, Anthony Rhett Harper, testified in an October 2014 pretrial hearing that the encounter was consensual.
In a Monday court filing, Judge Tom Davis ruled in the Superior Court of Gilmer County that the defendants’ right to a speedy trial was irreparably denied.