Baldwin County jury convicts Indiana man in GCSU student assault case

Prosecutors say the case involved a 2024 incident at a tanning salon where a Georgia College student was working alone.

MILLEDGEVILLE, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — An Indiana man was convicted Tuesday of multiple sexual offenses after a Baldwin County jury found him guilty in connection with a 2024 incident involving a Georgia College & State University student.

According to a release from the office of District Attorney T. Wright Barksdale III, Thomas James Gregory was convicted in Baldwin County Superior Court of criminal attempt to commit aggravated sexual battery, false imprisonment and sexual battery following a two-day jury trial.

The release says the jury deliberated for 16 minutes before returning guilty verdicts.

The case stems from an incident on June 6, 2024, when prosecutors say then 60-year-old Gregory entered Designer Tan salon on North Columbia Street in Milledgeville, where a 20-year-old GCSU student was working alone.

According to prosecutors, Gregory asked about tanning memberships and asked for a tour of the tanning beds. During the tour, prosecutors say Gregory touched the victim’s buttocks and put his hands down her pants and inside her underwear.

Investigators say the victim provided a description of Gregory and the SUV he was driving.

A Milledgeville police officer tracked the vehicle to a rental car company and identified Gregory as the person who rented the vehicle that day. Prosecutors say the officer also recognized Gregory from surveillance video at the business.

During the trial, a criminal investigator with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office in Houston, Texas testified about a 1999 arrest involving Gregory in Bryan, Texas, where law enforcement said Gregory was caught peeping into a woman’s window after following her home from a laundromat,

The district attorney’s office thanked the Milledgeville Police Department, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Bryan Police Department in Texas and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office for their assistance in the case.

Sentencing information has not been announced.