Georgia Football Star Charged With Rape, Held Without Bond

Athens, GA – A University of Georgia (UGA) football star turned himself in on felony rape charges on Wednesday night after he was accused of having nonconsensual sex with a drunk woman on Halloween weekend.

Charging documents said the incident occurred between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. on Oct. 29 at a home in Athens, ESPN reported.

The victim, a 21-year-old woman, told police that she fell asleep at the home at some point and awoke to find Georgia starting linebacker Adam Anderson penetrating her, the Athens Banner-Herald reported.

She told police the sex was nonconsensual but that she was able to leave the residence afterwards.

The woman went to an east Athens police precinct and filed a report about the sexual assault that afternoon, the Athens Banner-Herald reported.

She told detectives that she was “unconscious” when at the time of the sex and therefore could not have consented.

The police report said that Anderson had not yet been contacted by authorities when he flew to Jacksonville with the football team at 2:37 p.m. that day, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Anderson helped the Georgia Bulldogs defeat Florida 34 to 7 on Oct. 30.

School officials said that neither the UGA Athletic Association nor Bulldogs Head Coach Kirby Smart were aware of the allegations and ensuing investigation until they were notified and sent a copy of the police report on Nov. 1 by the university’s Equal Opportunity Office (EOO), the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

That’s when Anderson was indefinitely suspended from the football team, the Athens Banner-Herald reported.

“We are aware of the report, and we don’t comment on law enforcement matters, but I’ve been clear about the high standards we have for our student-athletes on and off the field,” the Bulldogs’ coach said in a statement, according to ESPN.

“I will be working closely with our administration to ensure we cooperate fully with all law enforcement and campus protocols,” Smart added.

Georgia is the top-ranked football team in the country in the Associated Press poll with a 9-0 record.

Anderson, a linebacker, leads the team in sacks with five this year and is the fifth-leading tackler on defense.

“Adam denies in the strongest terms possible the unfounded and unsupported allegations of sexual misconduct,” Steve Sadow, Anderson’s attorney, said, according to the Athens Banner-Herald.

Sadow had asked the college to end Anderson’s suspension so he could play football again.

Anderson’s attorney said that a “mere allegation of sexual misconduct should not be sufficient to warrant a suspension. Fairness and due process require more,” the Athens Banner-Herald reported.

But the linebacker was not reinstated to the team before charges were brought against him.

Anderson was arrested when he voluntarily surrendered to Athens police at 7:45 on Nov. 10, 13 days after the investigation into the rape allegations began, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

He has been charged with felony rape.

Anderson was held without bond overnight at the Athens-Clarke County Jail and was expected to go before a magistrate judge on Thursday morning, ESPN reported.

However, he may not be released from custody anytime soon because the magistrate judge does not have the authority to grant bond, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

To get bond for the college student, Anderson’s lawyer must petition for a bond in Superior Court.

But that can’t happen until the case has been assigned to a judge and given a hearing date, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Prosecutors also have the option to consent to bond.

“Adam is innocent of the charge brought against him and intends to vigorously defend himself in court,” Anderson’s attorney said in an email sent to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Wednesday. “He will seek release on bond. Once again, Adam hopes and prays that the UGA community and the public keep an open mind and afford him the presumption of innocence that the law demands.”