GREENFIELD — The Hancock County prosecutor has dropped charges against a young man who had been accused of sexually assaulting a teen-age girl.
Cameron Combs, 19, Greenfield, faced three Level 3 felony counts of rape. He was arrested in August 2018 after the girl said Combs, then 17, had forced himself on her at a party.
In an email to the Daily Reporter, chief deputy prosecutor Marie Castetter said the case was dismissed because of problems with the evidence.
During the course of discovery — a process in which both sides share evidence in a case — Combs provided some evidence making it “very difficult” to proceed with prosecution, Castetter wrote in the email.
She offered no other details.
The incident took place in the spring of 2018 after a school dance. The girl told police she visited Combs’ home, where they drank alcohol and listened to music with a few friends. According to court records, Combs forced himself on the girl after she had fallen asleep.
The girl confided in a family member the next day, and the relative reported the incident to police.
Prosecutors filed the charges against Combs in August. He was arrested and booked into the Hancock County Jail before posting a $7,500 cash bond.
Typically, cases brought against those under the age of 18 are filed as juvenile charges and are then handled by the probation department. If authorities think the allegations are severe enough, they can petition a judge to waive the child into adult court.
But state law stipulates that certain allegations, when brought against a child 16 or older, should be filed directly in adult court. Rape is one of those allegations, prosecutors said at the time.
