A marching band director didn’t show up for his group’s performance at a DeKalb County high school football game Friday night.
Instead, he was in jail.
Davion Battle, 35, is accused of not reporting a statutory rape accusation made against 20-year-old volunteer Jacolby Terry, who allegedly sexually abused a 15-year-old female student at Towers High School, Channel 2 Action News reported. The alleged incident took place last week inside the school.
The DeKalb County School District told Channel 2 that school police arrested Terry on Thursday, charging him with statutory rape. Battle was arrested Friday, and he faces a count of failure to report suspected child abuse.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
In a statement to parents, the school district said, “The administrative staff at Towers High School received notification by a student that a band volunteer allegedly had inappropriate contact with two students at Towers High School.”
According to an affidavit, the school district received two reports of alleged victims, but investigators were only able to determine one was credible, Channel 2 reported.
Terry worked closely with the band, but the district told the news station he “was not a teacher and not vetted through the district’s volunteer process.”
The district said it is investigating why he didn’t go through the vetting process. No other information on the investigation has been released.
Battle currently has an active lawsuit against the school district and Cedar Grove High School’s principal for an unrelated incident, Channel 2 reported. While working as band director at that school, he was also accused of not reporting a sexual assault, which he denies. No arrests were made in relation to that incident.
Terry, faces one count each of statutory rape and enticing a child for indecent purposes, DeKalb County jail records show. Battle is charged with one count of failure to report suspected child abuse. Terry bonded out Friday morning and Battle was released early Saturday, records show.
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