Homeless men were driven to the Smokies and sexually assaulted in the woods, feds say
Two men took homeless people into the Smoky Mountain wilderness and sexually assaulted them, officials say.
Now, Richard Graham and Dusty William Oliver have said they would plead guilty to charges connected to the reported attacks in the “isolated” Tennessee woods, according to documents filed last month in federal court.
Prosecutors say the pair was driving near Chapman Highway in Knoxville when they pulled up to a homeless man and asked if he wanted a ride in June 2012. He got into the car but realized the group was heading in the wrong direction, according to federal officials.
The group later reached Great Smoky Mountains National Park and agreed to hike on the extensive Appalachian Trail, court documents say. Around nightfall, Graham and Oliver sexually assaulted the homeless man, according to their plea agreements.
The man feared his attackers “were going to kill him and leave him in the dark woods,” federal officials say. They ended up taking him to a gas station, where he got help, according to officials.
Years later, a similar incident was reported.
A homeless man was walking near Chapman Highway when Graham and Oliver offered to take him to the Smokies in November 2015, according to court filings.
Prosecutors say the group took a walk on Look Rock Trail, a remote walking path in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. On the way back from an observation tower, Graham and Oliver sexually assaulted the man who was with them, according to federal officials.
Later, they took the man to Knoxville and dropped him off, court filings say.
He took photos of one of the attackers, and the other was caught on gas station cameras, federal officials say. The Blount County Sheriff’s Office released photos, and “immediately, both the defendants were positively identified,” according to prosecutors.
Graham’s DNA was linked to one of the attacks, according to court filings.
He and Oliver were indicted in September and entered plea deals last month, records show.
They agreed to plead guilty to two counts of “aiding and abetting an aggravated sexual assault,” according to court filings. The men could face up to life in prison, federal officials say.
This story was originally published December 3, 2019 at 12:02 PM with the headline "Homeless men were driven to the Smokies and sexually assaulted in the woods, feds say."
