sunray22b
2012-05-17 09:01:16 UTC
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2012/05/10/2044246/police-charge-man-with-statutory.html
The Columbus man arrested Thursday on accusations he had sex with a
14-year-old girl last week at Spencer High School has been released on bond,
jail records state.
Charles Johnson, 19, was charged with one count of statutory rape, a felony,
said Sgt. Craig Haggas of the Columbus Police Department. Johnson was booked
into the Muscogee County Jail after 2 p.m. and was ordered held on $2,500
bond.
Johnson made that bond later the same day, records state.
Johnson's release from jail waives his previously scheduled Columbus
Recorder's Court hearing scheduled for 2 p.m. today. He is no longer
required to appear in court.
Initial police reports said the girl was raped in an outside hallway at the
4340 Victory Drive school, that she had cuts to her neck and had been
threatened during an assault. But a charge of statutory rape does not carry
the forcible and "against her will" element of that of a rape charge,
suggesting Johnson may have claimed the sex was consensual, said Bill Mason,
a defense attorney who is not involved in the case.
Consent is not relevant to a statutory rape charge, Mason said, because the
alleged victim is underage and cannot legally consent to sexual intercourse.
Spencer High Principal Reginald J. Griffin took to Facebook last week to
comment on the student's initial allegations, accusing the student of
changing her story and making up a suspect's name, "Red." Haggas, the police
sergeant, declined to say whether Johnson also is known as Red.
"To say a student was raped is automatically saying that it happened,"
Griffin wrote in an online posting that apparently has been removed from his
account. "I am therefore asking the public to be responsible as this will
hopefully be resolved soon. Since this alleged incident is not clear and
accounts have since changed, we will continue to investigate."
Griffin did not return a call seeking comment after the arrest.
"If he removed it, he removed it on his own," said school district
spokeswoman Valerie Fuller, who had not seen Griffin's post and could not
say whether it violated the district's social media policy.
Georgia law says someone commits statutory rape "when he or she engages in
sexual intercourse with any person under the age of 16 years and not his or
her spouse, provided that no conviction shall be had for this offense on the
unsupported testimony of the victim." At 19, Johnson could face one to 20
years behind bars if convicted. (The range is 10-20 for defendants over 21.)
Staff writer Alan Riquelmy contributed to this report
Read more here:
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2012/05/10/2044246/police-charge-man-with-statutory.html#storylink=cpy
The Columbus man arrested Thursday on accusations he had sex with a
14-year-old girl last week at Spencer High School has been released on bond,
jail records state.
Charles Johnson, 19, was charged with one count of statutory rape, a felony,
said Sgt. Craig Haggas of the Columbus Police Department. Johnson was booked
into the Muscogee County Jail after 2 p.m. and was ordered held on $2,500
bond.
Johnson made that bond later the same day, records state.
Johnson's release from jail waives his previously scheduled Columbus
Recorder's Court hearing scheduled for 2 p.m. today. He is no longer
required to appear in court.
Initial police reports said the girl was raped in an outside hallway at the
4340 Victory Drive school, that she had cuts to her neck and had been
threatened during an assault. But a charge of statutory rape does not carry
the forcible and "against her will" element of that of a rape charge,
suggesting Johnson may have claimed the sex was consensual, said Bill Mason,
a defense attorney who is not involved in the case.
Consent is not relevant to a statutory rape charge, Mason said, because the
alleged victim is underage and cannot legally consent to sexual intercourse.
Spencer High Principal Reginald J. Griffin took to Facebook last week to
comment on the student's initial allegations, accusing the student of
changing her story and making up a suspect's name, "Red." Haggas, the police
sergeant, declined to say whether Johnson also is known as Red.
"To say a student was raped is automatically saying that it happened,"
Griffin wrote in an online posting that apparently has been removed from his
account. "I am therefore asking the public to be responsible as this will
hopefully be resolved soon. Since this alleged incident is not clear and
accounts have since changed, we will continue to investigate."
Griffin did not return a call seeking comment after the arrest.
"If he removed it, he removed it on his own," said school district
spokeswoman Valerie Fuller, who had not seen Griffin's post and could not
say whether it violated the district's social media policy.
Georgia law says someone commits statutory rape "when he or she engages in
sexual intercourse with any person under the age of 16 years and not his or
her spouse, provided that no conviction shall be had for this offense on the
unsupported testimony of the victim." At 19, Johnson could face one to 20
years behind bars if convicted. (The range is 10-20 for defendants over 21.)
Staff writer Alan Riquelmy contributed to this report
Read more here:
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2012/05/10/2044246/police-charge-man-with-statutory.html#storylink=cpy