MARIETTA, Ga. — A Georgia sheriff pleaded responsible to groping TV choose Glenda Hatchett throughout a regulation enforcement convention final 12 months and resigned from workplace Monday.
Bleckley County Sheriff Kristopher Coody pleaded responsible to a misdemeanor cost of sexual battery in Cobb County State Court, information shops reported. Hatchett addressed the courtroom, saying the ordeal had “cut me to the core.”
“For this man to come up and violate me the way he did is unspeakable,” Hatchett mentioned.
Hatchett is an Atlanta lawyer and star of the fact courtroom exhibits “Judge Hatchett” and “The Verdict With Judge Hatchett.” In 2016, she represented the household of Philando Castile, a black driver who was shot lifeless by a police officer in a Twin Cities suburb, in a extremely publicized lawsuit.
During a January 2022 convention of the Georgia Sheriff’s Association, whereas Hatchett was being launched to a gaggle of sheriffs at a lodge bar, Coody groped her, prosecutors mentioned.
Thomas Brown, a former DeKalb County sheriff, mentioned Hatchett got here to the convention as his visitor. Brown mentioned he bodily pulled Coody’s hand off of her.
“I saw his hand go down on her left breast,” Brown informed WSB-TV. “I grabbed his arm, threw it off of her chest.”
Judge Carl Bowers sentenced Coody to serve one 12 months on probation, pay a $500 wonderful and carry out 400 hours of group service.
The sheriff’s lawyer, Joel Pugh, mentioned Coody despatched a resignation letter Monday morning to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.
Coody had served since 2017 as sheriff of Bleckley County, a rural group of about 12,000 individuals positioned about 40 miles (64 kilometers) southeast of Macon.
The Associated Press doesn’t usually identify individuals who say they had been victims of sexual abuse until they arrive ahead as Hatchett has.
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