Wake County high school student faces additional rape, kidnapping charges
A Wake County high school student who was already charged with the statutory rape of a 12-year-old now faces additional rape and kidnapping charges.
Michael Campbell McGill, 18, was charged with second-degree forcible rape and first-degree kidnapping Tuesday.
He was charged with first-degree statutory rape in January.
Under North Carolina law, a person is guilty of first-degree statutory rape when the person has vaginal intercourse with a child under the age of 13 and the person is at least 12 years old and at least four years old than the child.
According to the City-County Bureau of Identification (CCBI), McGill is accused of second-degree forcible rape in September 2019. The alleged victim is under the age of 16, according to arrest warrants. He is accused of kidnapping the child, and then raping the child, the warrants state.
He also is accused of kidnapping a second child under the age of 16, the warrants state.
According to a report from the Cary Police Department, the statutory rape incident was reported at Middle Creek High School on Nov. 30, 2020.
The kidnapping charges are related to an incident reported on Nov. 27, according to the CCBI.
During McGill’s first court appearance, Assistant District Attorney Melanie Shekita told WRAL that McGill gave a girl a ride. Her family contacted law enforcement after she told them what happened.
McGill’s attorney David Coolidge Jr. attempted to lower McGill’s bail, which was set at more than $2 million, according to Wake County jail records, but the judge denied his request, saying any changes should wait until the case gets transferred to superior court.
Coolidge said he is still waiting on information from the district attorney’s office.
“He was a high school student, he was an active football player, he has siblings, he has no criminal record prior to these events,” said Coolidge. “I just ask that everyone hold judgment until we have all the facts.”
“There are always different kinds of facts especially among teenagers and how things come out.”
Attended Cary and Clayton high schools
McGill played high school football at Middle Creek High School in Cary and Clayton High School in Johnston County and went back and forth between the schools, according to information from Wake County and Johnston County schools. But he did not attend either school at the time of the November offense.
He enrolled at Middle Creek in the second semester in 2018, did one more semester, then moved to Clayton High School for a semester. He then returned to Middle Creek for part of the 2019-20 school year.
Most recently, he was a quarterback at AHOP Christian Leadership Academy, according to a video he posted on his Twitter account in January 2020. His most recent post was on Nov. 23, 2020. “Still unreal man blessed to part of a great season @AcademyAhop,” he wrote.
AHOP Christian Leadership Chief Administrator Damien Fields would not confirm whether McGill was a student at the school when The News & Observer reached out in February. He said he had no comment about the charges against McGill.
This story was originally published March 31, 2021 at 12:08 PM with the headline "Wake County high school student faces additional rape, kidnapping charges."