Former GVSU student charged with date rape after a summer party in Branch County
BRANCH COUNTY — A former Grand Valley State University student was arrested Friday, Jan. 27, and brought to the Branch County Jail on allegations that he sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl at a party last summer.
Olando Trader, 19, was charged with two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct; he posted a $50,000 bond with a probable cause hearing set for Feb. 9. Each charge is a felony punishable by imprisonment for up to 15 years.
The charges followed the allegation that he forced himself on the girl July 16, 2022, at a Batavia Township party, where underage drinking took place.
According to an investigation by Branch County deputies, the girl said she was sleepy and went to an upstairs bedroom where Trader came in and asked for sex. When she refused, he grabbed her head and forced oral sex.
The teen said he later returned, pulled off her shorts, held her down by the neck, and raped her. The girl went into the main area of the home and accused Trader of raping her before calling a friend to come pick her up.
The teen reported the assault. A Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner by ProMedica Coldwater Regional Hospital conducted an examination. Police reports indicated that the girl tested positive for GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyric-acid), a common "date rape" drug. Trader's DNA also was found on the victim.
Trader told police the girl flirted with him that night. He said he was asleep in a bedroom when she propositioned him. He told her he could not be in the same room as her and left — he denied any sex with the girl.
Because of the accusations, Trader’s mother obtained a personal protection order against the girl and her family. In her petition, she claimed her son received oral sex from the girl at the girl’s request, which contradicted her son’s statement to police.
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Trader was born in Liberia and adopted by the couple when he was 7.
The GVReport.com independent website reported in August that Trader, a football cornerback from Jackson who signed with Iowa in the 2022 recruiting class, had transferred to GVSU.
The university said he participated in practice but was never a member of the football team.
— Contact Don Reid: dReid@Gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DReidTDR.
This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: GVSU student charged with date rape after a summer party in Branch County
