‘Bachelorette’ Alum James McCoy Taylor Accused of Assaulting and Groping College Student

Bachelorette alum James McCoy Taylor was arrested at a bar after warrants were issued for his arrest. The 38-year-old from Katy, Texas is accused of meeting a 19-year-old Blinn College student back in April and bringing her back to a home in Bryan. While there, he allegedly assaulted her and prevented her from leaving. Taylor appeared on The Bachelorette Season 12. 

Per an arrest report obtained by KBTX, after the two met, Taylor and the woman left the bar and returned to a condominium Taylor was staying in. The two kissed in a bedroom but the woman told police she changed her mind about doing anything moving forward and wanted to leave after she began to feel uncomfortable. But she says Taylor became “very serious and intense” and “got a look on his face that frightened her.”

The woman reports she went into a restroom in the condo and called a friend who ordered an Uber for her. When she exited the restroom, she says Taylor was already nude on the bed. She says she asked him to put his clothes back on and told him she wanted to leave.

After Taylor reportedly walked the woman to the front door, he slammed the door shut and began forcibly kissing her. She says he threw her to the ground, got on top of her, and groped her private area. She says she was eventually able to escape out of the front door and got into an Uber that was waiting outside for her and left.

When police met with the woman, police reported noticing contusions on her buttocks. They also saw the text messages sent between the woman and her friend that corroborated her story. One text read: “Please come get me.” Another read: “I’m not ok”, and, “He’s forcing himself on me.”

Taylor told police the situation was “enjoyable and consensual” and he denied ever shoving her to the ground and getting on top of her. Police did not believe his account. He was booked on charges of Assualt Causing Bodily Injury and Unlawful Restraint and was released on bonds totaling $8,000. After the incident, the woman moved out of state.

In a statement sent to KBTX following his arrest, Taylor again denied the allegations, writing on social media: “So let me get this straight. Not so much as a scratch on me as I showed to police via pictures of my whole body which was awkward, to say the least, and I’m a pretty big guy, but I was trying to ‘unlawfully restraint’ a girl and she just .. got away? And walked right to her Uber right outside my House? With no injuries? Okay, got it. This makes tons of sense,” Taylor wrote. “Trust me if there were any injuries they’d be all over the internet.”

It’s not his first run-in with the law. In 2022, he was arrested for a DUI and driving with an unregistered weapon. Police noted that at the time of his arrest, he was driving an “impaired” 18-year-old college student back to her dorm.