3 teens charged in after-prom sexual assault

GILMER COUNTY, Ga. — Investigators have arrested three teenagers accused of sexually assaulting a girl at an after-prom party.
 
Fields Chapman, Avery Johnson and Andrew Haynes turned themselves in Wednesday morning.
 
Deputies said the 18-year-olds attacked the girl earlier this month at the Coosawattee River Resort in Ellijay.
 
A jail official told Channel 2's Tom Regan all three Calhoun High School graduates left jail with their attorneys and family members after posting $50,000 bond each.
 
The sheriff said investigators interviewed 50 witnesses, most of them students who attended the wild party, before bringing charges.
 
 "Sounds like that party was pretty out of control," said Gilmer County Sheriff Stacy Nicholson.
 
Nicholson said the 18-year-old female victim was at the hospital for several hours.
 
"I've been here a 22 years and her injuries were substantial," Nicholson said.
 
Nicholson said there insufficient evidence to charge the three students, all athletes with rape. He said the assault happened in a cabin bedroom following a long night of drinking by many of the 27 students attending.
 
"A portion heavily drinking for three to four to five hours," Nicholson said.
 
The three former students face the possibility of decades in prison if convicted.
 
"Teenagers and alcohol don't mix. There's nothing good that can come out of it," Nicholson said.

WSBTV