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Deputies investigate possible sexual assault at after-prom party

GILMER COUNTY, Ga. — Deputies in north Georgia are looking into claims of a possible sexual assault at an after-prom party attended by dozens of high school students.
 
It stemmed from a party involving about 25 people at a remote cabin in Gilmer County. Most of those involved either go to, or went to, Calhoun High School in Gordon County.
 
"I hear it everywhere, you know? I've got friends all over Calhoun. It happened a week ago, I think, and it's spread all over Calhoun already," one man told Channel 2's Ross Cavitt. "What really bothers me is that they should be getting to the bottom of it. If this is what happened, it's a very bad thing."
 
And that is part of the problem, according to Gilmer County Sheriff Stacy Nicholson.
 
So much misinformation is bouncing about on social media, it's making it hard to get to the bottom of what really happened at the party.
 
"Misstatements, mistruths and downright lies hit social media. It causes us issues and we have to work through that," Nicholson told Cavitt.
 
Nicholson said more than two dozen came into Gilmer County last weekend and spent the night at a cabin belonging to one kid's parents.
 
The next day, a Sunday, the sheriff said his department was called with allegations that one of the girls had been sexually assaulted.
 
Since then, the sheriff said deputies have been trying to track down and interview attendees.
 
"Some of the kids are in school, and some are not in school and we've been trying to track down kids in Calhoun, which is not our jurisdiction," Nicholson said.
 
The sheriff told Cavitt another thing hindering the investigation is the fact that nearly everyone at the cabin that night, of various ages, had been consuming alcohol, which might cloud their recollection.   
 
"At this point, I couldn't tell you that there would be an arrest made," Nicholson said.
 
Nicholson said his deputies have interviewed about half the people involved in the case and said it could take days, maybe even weeks, to come up with a conclusion.