Two Troy University students, Delonte Martistee, 22 and Ryan Calhoun, 23 have been arrested and charged with sexual battery after allegedly sexually assaulting an incapacitated woman at a Panama City, Florida beach over spring break.
Police are claiming that hundreds of people witnessed the assault and that there is cellphone footage proving the claim. Martistee and Calhoun have been charged with sexual battery by multiple perpetrators and police told AP that “more arrests” are expected to happen. Both Martistee and Calhoun have been suspended from Troy University.
Reportedly, there’s a video of the assault and it shows multiple men surrounding the victim, as she laid motionless on a beach chair. Later, the victim told police she believed she had been drugged. Troy University released the following statement:
“The students have been placed on temporary suspension from school per the University’s Standards of Conduct and disciplinary procedures. Martistee, a member of the track and field team, has also been removed from the team.”
Sheriff Frank McKeithen told the AP the video was “very, very graphic” and called it “the most disgusting, sickening thing” he’d ever seen. “This is happening in broad daylight with hundreds of people seeing and hearing what is happening, and they are more concerned about spilling their beer than somebody being raped,” McKeithen said.
Ruth Corley, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, said a portion of the video not showing the assault was released “to show the crowd that was surrounding the incident and to show people, not only was it a horrible event, but it was witnessed by so many people who did absolutely nothing to stop or call police.”
What a sickening crime–first to allegedly rape an incapacitated woman, but then to do so with an audience? Who were these terrible people watching? We’re hoping the victim receives the justice she deserves.
What do you think? Sound off in the comments below.
Police Say Hundreds Watched As Two College Students Sexually Assaulted Woman On A Springbreak Beach was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
