An updated version of this article, including interviews with the mother of the survivor and the vice chancellor for student affairs can be found here.
An Ole Miss student has been charged with kidnapping and raping another student.
Dustin McGee, a 20-year-old theater major from Brandon, was taken into police custody last Wednesday and transported to the Lafayette County Detention Center.
His bond was set at $20,000 by a judge, $10,000 for the rape charge and $10,000 for the kidnapping charge. He has since posted bond.
Oxford Police Department tweeted McGee’s mugshot last week, saying the department took a report regarding a kidnapping and rape last Tuesday and after investigation he was arrested Wednesday. The survivor provided investigators with McGee’s name.
OPD later tweeted again about the case saying, “We have already had other people reach out with information or past encounters with McGee.”
OPD Maj. Jeff McCutchen said the department has had at least two other people reach out.
“I don’t believe any of those at this time are Oxford cases, but we are still working with the victims to be sure,” he said in an interview with The Daily Mississippian Monday morning. “We have also helped get them in contact, if they wanted, with the appropriate agency. There have been some conversations where we just gave advice or we listened, but there were others where they wanted to proceed further and it just wasn’t our case but we helped them get in contact with who they needed to.”
He said he thinks this is only the first or second time they’ve had other alleged survivors come forward through social media platforms, but OPD and other agencies are learning that a lot of times when dealing with sexual assault, there are more cases someone has not come forward on.
“Because of that, we’re trying to look at avenues to give victims an opportunity to speak,” he said. “I think as great as social media is, we’ve got to use that tool to give people that opportunity. Them speaking with someone could be the door that leads to them later on coming forward to address that criminal activity. We can’t close the door on that, we’ve got to give them an opportunity to speak.”
McCutchen said when a sexual assault case happens in Oxford involving a student, the protocol is to contact someone in Title IX and Violence Prevention Office.
The survivor’s mother, who has decided to remain anonymous so her daughter cannot be identified, reached out to media outlets including the Clarion Ledger and Oxford Eagle.
She told the publications the bond set for McGee was extremely low and she worries about her daughter’s safety.
The mother told the Clarion Ledger her daughter did not know McGee well but they were leaving a party at the same time Monday night and he offered to share a ride with her and have it reroute through campus to drop her off.
The mother said her daughter didn’t realize where she was until the Uber arrived at the suspect’s house and he told her to come inside and wait for another Uber there.
He then “locked her daughter inside and beat, bit, and raped her,” according to the mother, who provided a medical report showing her daughter had bruises and hematomas on her neck, breasts, abdomen, genitals, legs and knees, and was bitten on her left breast.
The mother said the attack lasted an hour, until the suspect passed out and her daughter was able to escape. She then hid behind a car until she could call and Uber and went to a doctor first thing in the morning.
McCutchen said this case will be heard by the grand jury in May unless any new evidence or circumstances arise.
“It’s very fortunate that a case like that, it can be heard then the process can begin,” he said. “It’s great for us if we can get that on the docket in May and go ahead get that in the grand jury’s hands, we can get that ball rolling.”
Anyone with any further information is asked to call the Oxford Police Department at 662-232-2400.
(1/2) The Oxford Police Department took a report on April 10, 2018, regarding a reported kidnapping and rape. The victim was able to provide investigators with the name of the suspect who was identified as Dustin McGee (20 of Brandon, MS). pic.twitter.com/fwl9AHeoS0
— Oxford Police Dept (@OxfordPolice) April 12, 2018
