Nashville suspects in attack on college student have lengthy rap sheets

Two Tennessee men accused of raping an 18-year-old Kentucky college student visiting downtown Nashville earlier this month have lengthy criminal records, according to Hamilton and Davidson counties records.

Metro Nashville Police Department (MPD) officials identified Joseph Farmer, 36, and Trevor Casteel, 27, of Chattanooga as the two suspects accused of kidnapping the college student off Broadway Street, raping her and then using her debit card.

Casteel remains at large as of Wednesday morning, according to MPD.

Farmer’s arrest record in Davidson County has offenses dating back to 2013, including criminal impersonation, felony weapons possession, evading arrest, unlawful use of drug paraphernalia and theft. He also served a two-year sentence for a 2008 statutory rape case involving a victim between the ages of 13 and 18 years old in Hamilton County when he was 22 years old, according to court documents obtained by Fox News Digital.

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Casteel’s record in Hamilton County dating back to 2016 includes aggravated robbery, property theft, felony possession of a firearm and aggravated burglary. He allegedly cut off his ankle monitor in January 2021 and evaded arrest until June of that year, according to Scoop Nashville. He was reportedly released on $2,500 bail at the time.

The May 4 rape victim told investigators that she believes she was drugged at a popular bar and music venue called Honky Tonk Central on Nashville’s famous Broadway Street around 9 p.m. that evening, prior to interacting with the suspects, according to a police affidavit.

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She alleged that the two suspects sexually assaulted her despite her pleas to “stop, get off.” They also allegedly drove her around that evening in a Jeep Grand Cherokee, which she was able to recognize because her mother drives the same kind of vehicle, and used her debit card at various places, including an ATM, a gas station and a Waffle House.

The victim’s debit card history included an $303 withdrawal from an ATM, an $83.22 charge at a Shell gas station and a $12 charge at a Waffle House, according to the affidavit.

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The suspects eventually allowed the victim to use her phone to coordinate a drop-off location at a McDonald’s on Broadway, where her friend picked her up, reportedly without ever seeing the suspects, police said.

The victim filed a report with MPD’s Special Victims Unit the next day, and she later identified the suspects, according to the department.

ATM video footage obtained by investigators “shows extremely clear video of the Jeep, the victim and both Black male suspects,” the affidavit states.

Card records indicated a $35 parking garage fee on the night of the alleged crime. Investigators determined that a Jeep Grand Cherokee left the same parking garage in downtown Nashville that evening. Police used license-plate recognition technology to determine the Jeep’s travel path after it left the garage. 

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On May 5, officers noticed Farmer and Casteel, who was wanted on three unrelated warrants, involved in a narcotics transaction on 4th Avenue South in Nashville, police said. The men fled, and officers caught up with Farmer, who had multiple drug baggies and cash on his person.

Farmer later admitted to investigators that he and the victim did drugs and had sex, but he said it was consensual.

Farmer and Casteel are each charged with aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping, five counts of credit card fraud and theft. 

Farmer is also facing two counts of drug possession and is being held without bond. Farmer’s mugshot was not available at the time of publication.

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Neither Davidson County District Attorney Glenn Funk nor MPD Police Chief John Drake immediately responded to inquiries about the suspects’ criminal histories from Fox News Digital.

Authorities are asking anyone with information about the incident or Casteel’s whereabouts to contact 615-742-7463.