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Davidson College student accused of sexually assaulting female student no longer on baseball team

DAVIDSON, N.C. — Channel 9 confirmed that Davidson College baseball player George Coleman is no longer on the team's 34-man roster.

On Jan. 15, Davidson police said a 20-year-old female student reported being sexually assaulted by someone she knew, classmate 20-year-old Coleman.

Coleman was arrested Thursday and charged with sexual battery on campus.

His bond was set at $5,000.

Davidson students protested after his arrest and called for the school to suspend him from the baseball team.

"It’s upsetting but it's not surprising," one student said.

Students said they normally feel safe on campus but this recent report has put them on edge.

"I feel like I need to be more careful," one student said.

"It should never happen here," another student said.

Channel 9 checked Davidson’s daily crime logs, which date back to November.

January's sexual assault is the only one listed.

But, according to Davidson’s annual security report, between 2013 and 2015, there were 42 reports of rape on campus.

"I think that there has been more of an effort by the school to, like, bring it up front, and I think there could be even more," a student said.

In addition to hoping these reports spur more action on the college's part, students told us they hope to see classmates watching out for one another.

"It's not so much that you're walking back across campus in the dark and someone jumps out at you in the bushes it's more insidious than that, I think, and harder to notice, I know I’ve talked to people about paying attention and stepping in," a student said.

Davidson College said they've sent four safety alerts to students since the beginning of the school year, which they said can be about a variety of situations.

“An alert was not sent about this incident,” the spokesperson said. “The decision to send an alert is made on a case-by-case basis, depending on the factors in the report, not solely on the filing of the report.”

They did say that Coleman is still enrolled in school but he was removed from his baseball team's roster a little over a week after his arrest.

"Davidson College takes any report of sexual misconduct seriously, and the college’s education, prevention, and bystander intervention programs have increased student awareness of the resources available to them and of their ability to help others.  Our goal is not only to prevent incidents but to create an environment in which students feel empowered to seek help," the college spokesperson said.

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