A sodomy charge against a former Dalton State College student has been dropped after the district attorney said it was based on an outdated law that the state Supreme Court ruled in 1998 was unconstitutional.
A grand jury meeting in Whitfield County at the end of August did not indict Adam Kendall Chastain, who was charged earlier this year by the college’s public safety office with sodomizing a woman at Dalton State. The decision to “no bill” — the legal term for a grand jury refusing to send a case to trial for lack of sufficient probable cause — ends the case against Chastain unless new evidence is presented.
“I was glad that they dropped the charges, but at the same time it was kind of rough,” Chastain said. “It wasn’t just mentally disturbing to me, it hurt my mom and dad and everyone else. My son was crying.”
Chastain was initially accused of raping the woman, but the woman stopped cooperating with the Dalton Police Department, which was also involved in the case, District Attorney Bert Poston said. Chastain said he did have consensual oral sex with the woman. He said when he told that to campus police, he was charged with sodomy.
“Officers with Dalton State College took the sodomy warrant involving the same incident and allegations,” Poston said. “Consensual (non-forced) sodomy was illegal in Georgia until 1998 when the law was found to be unconstitutional as it applied to consenting adults by the Georgia Supreme Court.”
Campus Police Chief Billy Gee said he wasn’t aware of that at the time, and he said that apparently others weren’t either since a magistrate judge issued a warrant on the sodomy charge. Gee said the case progressed through the system the way it should have.
“The DA did his job, and we did our job,” he said.
College spokeswoman Pam Partain declined to comment on the outcome of the case, but she did say Chastain completed his spring semester at Dalton State but is not currently enrolled there.
Two Student Conduct Board Hearings found Chastain “not responsible” for a “Disorderly Conduct: Sexual Assault/Sexual Harassment” charge stemming from the incident, records that Chastain’s girlfriend, Tambara Austin, provided show. The board is comprised of students and staff at the college. College officials said at the time the board decides whether the person violated the student code of conduct based on the evidence they have but doesn’t decide whether a crime has been committed.
Chastain said so many people said things to him about the charge while he was trying to attend school that it became an unwelcome distraction, so he did not return.
Now in his 30s, Chastain was convicted in 2003 of statutory rape, a charge that involves sexual relations between an adult and a minor. He said the female was his girlfriend and the sex was consensual.
At the time of the Dalton State incident, he was working toward an engineering degree and caring for his 2-year-old son. He said he and his son are living with his parents in Chatsworth now. Chastain said he believes his history made some people mentally convict him in the college incident before getting all the facts.
“I’ve done a lot of wrong in my life, but at that point in time I hadn’t done anything wrong, and I got railroaded,” he said.
Local News
September 7, 2012
DA: Sodomy charge stemmed from outdated law
- Local News
-
-
‘I’ve got to protect myself somehow’
A small house on Gay Street was the scene where Frank Bozzie ran over Horace Morgan with a pickup truck on June 10, according to Sheriff Scott Chitwood. (File photo by Misty Watson/The Daily Citizen)
A man police say was murdered when his attacker ran over him in his yard with a pickup truck told a 911 operator the offender broke in his house and began threatening him.
Continued ... - Leaders look to feed reader program
- Law school hopeful headed to Harvard
- Police and Fire Games: Dalton firefighter snags second place
- County school board expected to approve budget Wednesday morning
- Electric vehicle charging stations coming to Dalton
- Brochu leaving position in S.C.
- Jun 17, 2013
- DPD seeks identity of cigarette snatcher
- Minding their P's and Q's
- Whitfield CERT members reach 141 after seventh class graduates
- Local agency can guide you through homebuying process
- Spring Place Ruritan Club receives awards
- Jun 16, 2013
- Ridley trades banking for farming
- Pilsbury diary to be unveiled at Bandy Heritage Center
- Blue Ridge wins Georgia Safe Routes to School award
-
James Gandolfini Dies at Age 51
Fmr. TWA Flight 800 Investigators Want New Probe
Raw: Heat, Spurs Back on Court Ahead of Game 7
Dolce and Gabbana Convicted of Tax Evasion
Paris, Prince Depositions Used in Jackson Trial
Coiffed Cattle Get Their Close-up
In Berlin, Obama Channels Cold War Activism
Police at Patriots Tight End's Home for 2nd Day
Fed Suggests Bond Purchases Could Slow
AP: DOJ Broke Own Rules Seizing Phone Records
Raw: Baby White Rhino Debuts at Australian Zoo
Time Lapse: Rebuilding Bridge Post-collapse
Ohio Woman Accuses 3 of Holding Her Captive
Hunt for Ex-Teamster Boss Hoffa's Remains Ends
