A Georgia State University bookstore supervisor fired amid a theft investigation was arrested earlier this month on child molestation charges stemming from a sexual assault reported two years ago, according to documents.
Zacchaeus Tillman was fired March 5 after he admitted to stealing $40,000 during an internal investigation, according to a Georgia State police report. He was arrested that same day in a sexual assault case out of Jonesboro, Clayton County jail records show.
According to arrest warrants, a 15-year-old girl’s mother returned home during a lunch break and heard someone running down the stairs. Shortly after, the mom called authorities. The girl told police she met Tillman, who said he was 17, online. The girl discovered Tillman’s real age at the time, 19, when she looked at his ID, according to the warrant. The girl deleted her correspondence with Tillman, but evidence eventually linked him to her.
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The alleged molestation occurred in May 2016, but authorities didn’t take warrants out for Tillman until a year later.
A background check was performed in December 2016 by Illinois-based Follett Education Services on the 21-year-old, who was known to them as “Zack,” Channel 2 Action News reported. He was hired the same month. Tillman’s employer likely didn’t know about the molestation allegations since warrants were issued in May 2017, after he was hired.
Tillman admitted he stole $40,000 worth of merchandise from the bookstore during an internal investigation involving $400,000 in stolen goods, according to the police report. GSU police Chief Joseph Spillane said the theft centered on a gift-card scam.
“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 Channel 2. “Those gift cards were used for personal purchases potentially by these individuals who are suspects.”
Tillman remains in the Clayton County jail on child molestation, statutory rape and aggravated child molestation charges. He has a bond hearing scheduled for Friday.
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