FARMINGTON — Police have charged a second male with assaulting a teenage girl on a beach area of Sandy River last week, Police Department secretary Bonnie Pomeroy said.

Gavin M. Flagg, 18, of Strong was arrested Tuesday after he appeared in Franklin County Superior Court on an unrelated charge, Pomeroy said. He was charged with misdemeanor assault in the July 20 incident involving two girls ages 14 and 16, she said.

Also accused in the case is Shawn Burnell, 21, of Phillips, who was arrested July 26 on charges of unlawful sexual contact, criminal threatening and criminal restraint, police said. Burnell is accused of pinning one girl to the ground, threatening her with a knife and attempting to sexually assault her.

In a court record, one of the girls said Flagg and Burnell grabbed her and her friend by their wrists and told them to drink alcohol. She told them she did not want to and pushed the alcohol away. Flagg got behind her and put his arm around her neck and held her mouth open while Burnell poured alcohol into her mouth, according to her statement to police.

Police said the girls attempted to leave at different times during the incident, but the men would not let them go, according to a court affidavit.

Flagg was released from the Franklin County Detention Center on July 30 on $200 cash bail.

abryant@sunjournal.com

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