TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - A man is behind bars, accused of raping a sleeping runaway teenager.
According to a probable cause document, officers were called to Capital City Youth Services in May about a teenager under the age of 16 who had been sexually battered after running away.
The victim advised that they had met up with Michael James, 37, after getting dropped off. James told the victim he had a "cool place" they could go and led them to a mattress under the railroad tracks near Mosley St. and FAMU Way.
According to the document, the victim said they were in and out of sleep, awaking to find a nude James rolling off of them before going back to sleep.
When the victim woke up the next morning, James was gone.
The victim was able to tell police what James looked like and told them that he worked at Chubby's Chicken Fingers on West Tennessee Street.
The document says authorities were able to meet up with James at his job, noting that he "was cooperative" and provided his contact information. They say James agreed to meet with investigators immediately.
When police interviewed him, James denied ever being in the incident location with the victim and denied sleeping next to the victim. He also denied any sexual contact, saying that he didn't know why the victim would accuse him of doing anything.
According to the document, James even agreed to a DNA swab.
However, when DNA results came back on analysis of samples from both the victim and James, the tests found that the victim's genital swab had traces of foreign DNA.
Investigators wrote that the foreign DNA matched James' DNA profile.
As a result of the investigation, a warrant was issued for James' arrest for sexual battery on a physically helpless victim (victim 12-18, suspect over 18).
James was taken into custody on Wednesday and remains in the Leon County Jail on a $30,000 bond.
