First Posted: 9/12/2014

HAMLET — A man accused of holding his neighbor down on a bed and taking his clothes off is facing assault and sexual battery charges.

Tremek Shaquille Pate, 19, of 400 Buttercup Drive in Hamlet, was arrested Friday after the female neighbor took out an arrest warrant for the Thursday incident.

Pate pushed the woman down on a bed and tried to hold her down while taking his shorts off, according to the warrant. He is charged with misdemeanor assault on a female and misdemeanor sexual battery.

North Carolina law classifies engaging in sexual contact with another person by force and against the person’s will “for the purpose of sexual arousal, sexual gratification or sexual abuse” as sexual battery, a Class A1 misdemeanor.

Assault on a female by a man 18 or older is also punished under Class A1, the highest category for misdemeanor offenses. A person with no criminal record could face up to 60 days in prison for each count.

Pate has no record of convictions resulting in prison time or probation in North Carolina, according to the state Division of Adult Correction.

He has two counts of driving while license revoked and one count each of failing to stop for a stop sign or flashing red lights and displaying an expired registration card or tag in Richmond County District Court.

Pate was jailed Friday under a $2,500 secured bond.

Corey Friedman