A friend of three former Calhoun High School students charged in a post-prom rape testified in a Gilmer County court Thursday the sex was consensual.
Anthony Harper testified that he witnessed the incident, according to Channel 2 Action News. He said he was in the bedroom the entire time, but did not participate.
The girl, he testified, was not passed out drunk and did not verbally tell the boys to stop. Instead, she was alert, walking and talking, Harper said.
Fields Chapman, Avery Johnson and Andrew Haynes were arrested after the 18-year-old girl told investigators she was raped by multiple young men early May 11 at Coosawattee River Resort cabin, according to a Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office report.
Harper, a friend of one of the three accused of rape, conceded that he did nothing, didn’t leave the room and continued to watch.
When asked why he stayed, Harper replied, “I was just shell shocked. I never saw this in person. Never witnessed it.”
Harper testified that he never clearly saw the girl’s face to “know what’s going on with her.”
He said he didn’t hear her speak until the alleged attack was over, when she asked about her clothes.
The alleged attack occurred at a cabin that was rented for a party after the Calhoun High School prom, held the night before.
The girl told deputies that she couldn’t remember who assaulted her. She said she passed out at the cabin about 2 a.m.
A Gilmer County grand jury indicted Chapman, Johnson and Haynes on aggravated sexual battery charges in July.
Attorneys for the three men contend that the sexual encounter was consensual and that the case should be thrown out.
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