Rara Thomas' lawyer releases statement after Georgia receiver released from jail Tuesday

Georgia Bulldogs wide receiver Rara Thomas was released from jail on Tuesday after posting a bond totaling $3,500. Shortly following that, his lawyer, Kim Stephens, released a statement.

“I am pleased that bond could be set and Mr. Thomas released while we fully investigate the case,” Kim Stephens wrote. “We expect that this matter can be resolved swiftly and fairly once all facts are known.”

Rara Thomas was able to post his bond four days after his initial arrest.

He was arrested on Friday morning for felony cruelty to children and two misdemeanor battery charges. Thomas was booked into jail at 3:20 A.M. and was incarcerated waiting for his bond hearing. All three of the charges against him carry a “family-violence” tag.

Shortly following his arrest, Rara Thomas was suspended indefinitely from the Georgia football program.

2023 was the first season Rara Thomas at Georgia. In an up-and-down season, he caught 23 passes for 383 yards and a touchdown. He previously played two seasons for the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

These legal issues for Thomas come at a time when the Georgia program has seen a rash of legal issues. Primarily, those issues have been related to reckless driving and driving above the speed limit. That includes Smael Mondon and Bo Hughley who were recently arrested, or running back Trevor Etienne who was arrested earlier this year.

As head coach Kirby Smart recently explained, there are different ways players might be punished for issues. That includes a kind of fine given out by the school’s NIL collective.

“Our Classic City Collective for over a year has been substantially fining guys for those things,” Smart said, via Dawgs HQ. “That’s not something that’s new. That’s something that’s been ongoing outside of my jurisdiction that they decided to implement and have done for a considerable amount.”

Kirby Smart deleted birthday tweet for Rara Thomas

In the days following Rara Thomas’ arrest, Kirby Smart’s Twitter/X account made a post about Thomas’ birthday. The post was then quickly taken down from his account, presumably given the current legal situation for Thomas.

Before the post came down, several fans replied, looking for the post to be removed. That included one who posted, “Dear staffer running kirbys twitter, please delete this,” and that “This needs to come down!”

The post did come down and was likely the result of a scheduled post that hadn’t been removed or a social media manager posting to the account without realizing the circumstances.