Austin police vehicle
Austin American-Statesman
Austin police have issued an arrest warrant for a Fort Worth-based U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent accused of sexually assaulting an Austin woman last year.
The warrant, issued Jan. 29, charges Melvin Davis with second-degree felony sexual assault. Investigators allege Davis assaulted the woman after meeting her at a downtown Austin bar on Sept. 12 and persuading her to go to his hotel room.
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According to the warrant affidavit, Davis met the woman at Library Bar on East Sixth Street before pressuring her to accompany him to his hotel. Once inside the room, the federal officer allegedly assaulted the woman despite her repeated objections and attempts to leave.
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Fort Worth attorney MarQuetta Clayton, who is representing Davis, confirmed that he remains employed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection but declined to comment further. Davis had not been arrested as of Feb. 2, according to court records.
In an interview with Austin police officers Nov. 20, Davis denied having sex with the woman. He told investigators that after the two entered his hotel room, the woman asked to take a shower. Davis said he attempted to enter the shower but when the woman denied him entry, he fell asleep on the hotel bed.
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When he awoke, he said the woman was gone. But the woman, who is not named in the warrant, offered detectives a much different narrative — one that the affidavit said was later corroborated by DNA evidence.
A construction worker drills boards onto the entrance of the Library Bar on East 6th Street in Austin on Wednesday, March 18, 2020. The bar is one of several businesses that are choosing to board up their establishments on the popular street. This comes after Austin officials ordered closures of all bars and restaurants. [BRONTE WITTPENN/AMERICAN-STATESMAN]
Austin American-Statesman
According to the affidavit, the woman told police she had ended a two-month relationship with Davis earlier in the summer because she was uncomfortable with his behavior, including pressuring her to perform sex acts during video calls. She agreed to meet him Sept. 12, she said, because he told her he was visiting Austin and she believed she would be safe meeting him in public with friends present.
As the night ended, the woman told friends she would rejoin them after dropping Davis at his hotel. There, Davis “begged” her to go up to his room to talk, the warrant states. She told investigators she was not interested in resuming a relationship but agreed to go upstairs in hopes of ending things amicably.
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Once inside, Davis allegedly picked the woman up from a couch and threw her onto the bed, pinning her body with his weight while restraining her legs. As she resisted and asked him to stop, Davis allegedly attempted to remove her clothing and made statements indicating he would not let her leave.
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The woman told police she repeatedly tried to fight him off, including kicking and attempting to crawl away, but Davis dragged her back and sexually assaulted her. At one point, she said she briefly broke free using a self-defense maneuver learned in a jiu-jitsu class, but Davis then grabbed her by the throat, hindering her ability to breathe.
She told investigators she eventually stopped resisting because she believed she would lose if she continued fighting and said she “blacked out and froze.”
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After the assault, Davis allegedly lay beside the woman and told her he loved her. She asked to take a shower, intending to escape while the water was running, but Davis insisted on joining her. The woman said she was able to leave after Davis returned to the bed and fell asleep.
Two days later, the woman underwent a sexual assault forensic exam at SAFE Austin. According to the warrant, the exam documented physical trauma consistent with her account of the assault. DNA collected during the exam matched a sample Davis later provided to investigators.