Local

GSU bookstore supervisor accused of rape, $400K theft

ATLANTA — Channel 2 Action News has learned a Georgia State University bookstore supervisor has been fired amid a $400,000 theft investigation.

On the day of his firing earlier this month, he was also arrested on outstanding warrants for child rape and molestation charges.

A tip led Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Nicole Carr to Clayton County, where 21-year-old Zacchaeus Tillman is being held without bond.

Tillman was arrested on March 5 for warrants issued in May of 2017.

They allege that a year earlier, he lied to a 15-year-old Jonesboro girl about his age before engaging in sexual intercourse with the child.

The girl’s mother returned home from a lunch break and heard someone running down the stairs, according to the warrant. The girl had deleted correspondence with Tillman, but forensic evidence linked him to her.

The alleged rape happened May of 2016, several months before Tillman was contracted to work at GSU.

But the actual warrants were not issued until months after his hiring.

Tillman, who is an Atlanta resident, is facing felony child molestation, aggravated child molestation and statutory rape charges.

“Seeing another staff member on this campus was taking my hard-earned money that I worked for in this school and to go out and put Georgia State’s good name into this world, um that hurts me,” said Sierra Reece, a GSU junior and staff member.

“That’s a big deal, so I think that’s something our school needs to stay on top of,” Reece said.

BOOKSTORE THEFT INVESTIGATION

Tillman was contracted to work as a GSU bookstore supervisor through Illinois-based Follett Educational Services, according to a corporate spokesperson.

The company knew him as Zack, and his background check under his full legal name was clean at the time of his December 2016 hiring.

The rape warrants were issued five months later.

Around that time, GSU’s bookstore management launched an internal yearlong investigation that concluded on March 7, 2018, two days after Tillman’s firing.

According to a GSU police report, Tillman and another employee Jordan Billingslea, are suspects in a $400,000 theft investigation.

The report said that during the GSU internal investigation, Tillman admitted to stealing $40,000 worth of merchandise.

Because Tillman was already in the Clayton County jail when GSU police were contacted about the alleged thefts, they have not had a chance to interview him. Their investigation is pending.

GSU Police Chief Joseph Spillane said the theft investigation is centered on a gift-card scam operation.

“We’re working out all the details on that, but basically it was a way to defraud through improper returns or returns that never existed where one would give a refund in the form of a gift card,” Spillane told Carr. “And those gift cards were used for personal purchases potentially by these individuals who are suspects.”

If GSU presses charges, Spillane said the campus authorities would ask Clayton County to hold Tillman for Fulton County authorities.

That may not be necessary, though.

Court records show Tillman was denied bond shortly after his arrest. He is due for a preliminary hearing in Clayton County next month.