Atlanta police say a man pretended to be same-sex oriented in order to gain the trust of a lesbian before raping her.
36-year-old Taurence Callagain met the unidentified woman at a MARTA commuter train station in Atlanta’s West End in 2015, and the two struck up a conversation before exchanging numbers.
Police say Callagain pretended to be same-sex oriented to gain the woman’s trust after she confided she was a lesbian.
According to a statement from the Fulton County District Attorney’s office, “The victim is a lesbian and has a female partner who she was is in a relationship with when she met the defendant.”
The statement continues: “Callagain led the victim to believe he was gay, so she was under the impression that their relationship was strictly platonic.”
Weeks later, after the victim missed the last MARTA bus of the night, Callagain offered to give drive her home, according to the DA’s office.
After stopping at his home to pick up marijuana, Callagain lured the victim inside the house to smoke weed.
The woman followed the man to his bedroom “when he began to strangle her and proceeded to violently rape her,” according to the DA’s office.
“During the rape, Callagain told the victim if she fought or screamed, ‘I will get my boys to come in and hold you down.'”
After the rape, the victim fled the home and ran 3 miles in the middle of the night to her home. She later went to a hospital to seek treatment and called police.
Callagain, who is facing a separate aggravated assault case in Fulton County, claimed at his trial that the encounter was consensual.
He was convicted of rape on Tuesday. A sentencing hearing date has not been set.
In Georgia, punishment for a rape conviction can range from 25 years in prison to the death penalty.
