A UF student was arrested Tuesday for sexual battery more than a year after the incident, Gainesville Police said.
Christopher James Podlin, 21, raped his date in the Kappa Sigma Fraternity house, located at 1120 SW 9th Rd., on Dec. 7, 2016, according to an arrest report. Podlin had met the victim through Instagram about a month earlier when she was 17, police said.
Four days before the alleged rape, the victim refused Podlin’s romantic advances when the two met to study together, according to the report.
In the early morning hours of the next day, the victim responded to Podlin’s texts and said, “I’m fine, I just don’t want to give you the wrong impression (because) I’m not going to hook up with you,” according to the report.
Podlin and the victim attended a social function at Boca Fiesta through his fraternity, police said.
In a group chat, the woman texted her friends and said, “I’m scared he’s going to assault me (to be honest),” according to the report.
At the event, the victim became extremely intoxicated, according to the report.
Podlin brought her back to his fraternity’s house at about 11 p.m., police said. He offered her a T-shirt to change into from her dress.
While she changed, Podlin began aggressively kissing her and carried her to his bed, where he began to have sex with her against her will, according to the report.
The woman repeatedly begged Podlin to use a condom and pretended to be unconscious in hopes that he would stop, she told police, according to the report.
When she seemed to be asleep, he removed the condom and began having sex with her again, according to the report.
The victim then started screaming and left Podlin’s room, police said.
“Listen I’m so sorry,” Podlin texted her. “I had no intentions of hooking up until you basically got fully naked.”
He is a UF biology senior, said UF spokesperson John Hines. Hines said he was not sure if Podlin is being investigated by the school to decide what his punishment would be.
Podlin, who was over 18 at the time of the incident, was charged with sexual battery of a 17-year-old. He was taken to the Alachua County Jail from where he was released Thursday on a $50,000 bond.
He could not be reached for comment.
Contact Robert Lewis at rlewis@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter at @Lewis__Robert.
Christopher James Podlin
