Atlanta businessman John Michael Robison faces rape charge

Update: - J. Michael Robison was acquitted on rape charges filed in Massachusetts.

An Atlanta businessman and former chairman of the city’s tourism bureau has been accused of rape in Massachusetts, according to a published report.

John Michael Robison, 50, a founder and former chairman of Lanier Parking Solutions, one of Atlanta’s largest parking companies, was arraigned Aug. 8 on three counts of rape of a person over 14 in Nantucket District Court, according to a report this week in The Inquirer and Mirror, a newspaper on the island.

The newspaper reported few details about the alleged incident.

Robison’s attoey, James Merberg, called the allegations ”outrageous.

”It is completely false. I fully expect my client to be cleared of all charges, Merberg told The Atlanta Joual-Constitution.

Merberg said he did not want to try the complaint in the media and declined further comment.

Robison retired from Lanier Parking earlier this year. He once served as chairman of the board of the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau.

A message left with a Nantucket Police spokesman was not immediately retued.

The Inquirer and Mirror reported the alleged assaults occurred in a residence in the city July 27. Robison reportedly posted $5,000 in bail and was released. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for Aug. 27, the newspaper reported.

Robison founded Lanier Parking in 1989 as a Georgia Tech student and built the firm into a national and inteational parking management giant. The company manages lots and decks at high-profile office towers, shopping malls and arenas, and also managed parking during the 2002 and 2010 Winter Olympic Games and several PGA championship golf touaments.

John Michael Robison