Man who videotaped Ahmaud Arbery’s death subject of child molestation investigation: report
William “Roddie” Bryan Jr. was denied bail in the Arbery case
The Georgia man who videotaped the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery is now the subject of a child molestation investigation, according to public records.
The Glynn County Police Department purportedly asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation on July 15 to initiate a sex crime investigation based on allegations made against William “Roddie” Bryan Jr.
First Coast News obtained the fact sheet of the investigation, which listed the type of case against Bryan as “child abuse/molestation.” It also said the incident took place in Camden County and that the victim was a White female.
A spokesperson for the GBI said no other details or documents are available and would not discuss an ongoing investigation.
[amazon box=”B07SDFC9QT” “small”]
Byran along with Gregory McMichael and his son, Travis McMichael, have been charged with malice and felony murder in Arbery’s shooting death. All three men have pleaded not guilty.
During Bryan’s bail hearing earlier this month, prosecutors brought up the sex crime charges but did not provide details.
In the Arbery case, prosecutors said the McMichaels armed themselves and pursued the 25-year-old man while he was jogging in their neighborhood near the port city of Brunswick, Ga.
The McMichaels, who are White, claim they thought Arbery was a burglar, and Greg McMichael said Arbery attacked his son before being shot.
Bryan, who took the cellphone video of the shooting from the cab of his vehicle, helped raise a national outcry when the footage was leaked online on May 5.
Following complaints of gross mismanagement and negligence by the Glynn County Police Department, the GBI stepped in and arrested the McMichaels two days later.
Arbery’s death has often been invoked during protests against racial injustice that have broken out across the nation since George Floyd’s death while in police custody in Minneapolis.
