NC security officer raped a girl he was driving to a mental health facility, police say
On Monday, an on-duty private security officer was assigned to drive a 14-year-old in need of psychological treatment to a Charlotte hospital.
Along the way, police say, he pulled over and had sex with the girl.
Now, David Logan Marsh of Waxhaw faces an array of criminal charges, including statutory rape of a child and two counts each of indecent liberties with a child and sexual activity by a custodian.
In North Carolina, it’s illegal for an adult — someone 18 or older — to have sex with a minor, even if it’s consensual.
In Marsh’s case, the 31-year-old has been accused of statutory rape of a child 15 or younger in which the age difference is six years or more.
According to Charlotte-Mecklenburg police, the 14-year-old had been the subject of a recent involuntary commitment order. The assault occurred Monday while Marsh, an employee with the private security firm G4S, was driving the youth from a Rowan County hospital to Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center in Charlotte, police and court documents reveal.
According to documents, the 6-foot-tall, 275-pound Marsh pulled over on a service road in Charlotte where the girl performed oral sex on him. The two also had intercourse.
The youth later reported the incident to a Novant medical professional, and a sexual assault kit was collected, police and documents say.
CMPD says detectives questioned Marsh on Wednesday at the police department. Court documents allege that Marsh confessed to having consensual intercourse and oral sex with the girl and that he knew she was underage.
Marsh was arrested after the interview and appeared in court Thursday. He remained in custody Thursday afternoon at the Mecklenburg County Jail on $375,000 bond.
G4S is a British security company with offices in Charlotte and across the country. Its area clients include health care facilities and the Charlotte Area Transit System.
The company’s website highlights its handling of behavioral-health patients, saying its staff provides “a dignified, empathetic and respectful transportation service for mental health patients in order to decrease law enforcement involvement and further patient trauma.”
In a Thursday statement to the Observer, the company said it is gathering evidence in the matter, cooperating with police and will “take appropriate action based on the findings.”
“G4S is committed to the highest standards of business ethics and conduct, including treating everyone with dignity and respect and has a zero tolerance approach to employee behavior which fails to meet this standard.”
Under N.C. law, patients in involuntary commitments — “to the extent feasible” — are to be transported by a driver or attendant of the same sex unless the law enforcement officer involved allows a family member to ride along.
Asked later Thursday if it is standard company policy to place a teenage girl experiencing emotional crisis in the custody of a lone male security officer, G4S did not immediately respond.
Novant did not immediately respond to a series of Observer emails Thursday seeking comment.
This story was originally published September 9, 2021 at 12:37 PM.
