UCF cheer alum accused of sexual battery

A former University of Central Florida cheerleader was arrested last week and accused of sexual battery on two students, as well as putting a teammate in a chokehold until she lost consciousness.

Dawan Carter Jr. is facing charges of sexual battery and battery. He was arrested Friday.

The investigation began when a UCF student contacted the university’s police department on Oct. 9 and said Carter touched her inappropriately after a night out Sept. 29, even after she said no repeatedly, according to Carter’s arrest affidavit. The student told police Carter kept touching her after she said no. “I just laid there, I didn’t know what to say or do,” the student told police.

Her roommate then came to police with a similar story, saying Carter touched her against her will on Sept. 6.

Carter denied touching either woman’s genitals. “I was just going to put my hand on her leg and make her want to have sex with me and then leave,” he told police regarding the first student.

Another woman, who described Carter as her best friend, told police he told her that he did touch the second woman, despite what he told officers.

The investigation lead officers to a different incident — In May, Carter was captured on video putting a teammate in a chokehold, lifting her off the ground and squeezing until she lost consciousness, despite another person trying to intervene, court records show. Carter told officers it was “horseplay” and that he did not mean to cause any harm.

Carter faces an aggrevated battery charge for that incident, court records show.

He was released on bond from the Orange County Jail.