Norwich man charged in house party sexual incident
A 24-year-old Norwich man has been charged with sexually touching a woman while she was passed out from drinking a large amount of whiskey on Nov. 19at a house party in Taftville.
Brian J. Noland of 126 Providence St. was charged Feb. 7 with second-degree sexual assault of a physically helpless person. He is free on a written promise to appear in New London Superior Court on Feb. 27.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, the 20-year-old woman went to a party at Noland's house with a man named Christian Griffin, whom she met in person for the first time that night after communicating online and by phone for several months. The woman said she drank heavily at the party and at one point was in an upstairs bedroom drinking shots of Jack Daniels Fire whiskey with Noland. She said she attempted to stand, became dizzy and sat down, and that the only thing she remembered was Nolan apologizing for what had happened to her.
The next day, Noland allegedly told a female friend that he had reached down the woman's pants while she was passed out. The woman advised him to be honest with police. In a Nov. 28 interview with Norwich police Detective Anthony Gomes, Noland apologized and signed a statement in which he said, "I shouldn't have taken advantage of her when she was passed out."