A suspect in the Ahmaud Arbery murder case is now a target of sex-crime investigation by local and state police in Georgia, officials said Friday.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was first contacted on July 15 to "initiate a sex crimes investigation based on allegations made against William 'Roddie' Bryan, Jr.," the state police agency said in a statement.
"The investigation is active and ongoing," according to the GBI statement. A representative for the bureau declined to elaborate on the probe.
The GBI later said those alleged crimes happened in Camden County, Georgia. A Camden County Sheriff's Department spokesman said Friday the investigation is being run by state police and his agency is not involved.
A prosecutor mentioned the GBI sex-crimes probe in passing during Bryan's bail hearing in the Arbery case on Friday afternoon, but his defense lawyer did not address the investigation in court.
Bryan’s lawyer Kevin Gough did not immediately respond to a phone call and email requesting comment.
Bryan is one of three men being charged in connection to Arbery's slaying.