Photo: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
A Georgia sheriff pleaded guilty Monday to improperly touching television judge Glenda Hatchett during a police conference last year.
Bleckley County Sheriff Kristopher Coody pleaded guilty in Cobb County state court to a misdemeanor charge of sexual assault and was sentenced to one year of probation, news outlets reported.
Coody also resigned from the position he had held since 2017.
“He raped me so much and at that moment I felt so helpless. I see myself as a strong woman. I have never been a victim and I felt it was important that there be accountability,” Hatchett told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Monday after the hearing.
Hatchett, an attorney from Atlanta, starred on the reality shows “Judge Hatchett” and “The Verdict With Judge Hatchett.” He also represented the family of Philando Castile, a black driver who was fatally shot by a Minnesota police officer in a Twin Cities suburb, in a highly publicized lawsuit.
In January 2022, she attended a Georgia Sheriffs Association meeting as the guest of a retired Georgia sheriff, who introduced her to several colleagues. One of the sheriffs she met at the convention hotel bar outside Atlanta was Coody.
Hatchett said she told Coody she wasn’t sure where her home county was located. The sheriff pointed his finger at her chest, he said, and replied, “In the heart of Georgia.” Then, the officer repeated those words as he grabbed her left breast and started squeezing and rubbing it.
Hatchett said he froze in shock, so it was his host, former DeKalb County Sheriff Thomas Brown, who grabbed Coody’s arm and pulled it off.
“It happened on a Tuesday and on Thursday morning I couldn’t get out of bed. So I started coaching literally that night,” Hatchett said.
He reported the incident to Cobb County authorities, who obtained a warrant for Coody’s arrest. The case had been pending in court until the sheriff’s guilty plea on Monday.
Hatchett sat in the front row of the courtroom while Judge Carl Bowers sentenced Coody to serve one year of probation, pay a $500 fine, and perform 400 hours of community service.
Sheriff’s attorney Joel Pugh said Coody sent a letter of resignation Monday morning to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.
Daniel Cape was named the acting sheriff in a news release from the office Monday.
Hatchett said she felt compelled to speak up in part because so many women can’t.
“I don’t want to be the model woman for this, but I think it’s important for me to be very honest. It is important that other victims see that I hold him accountable,” she noted.
Coody had served since 2017 as the sheriff of Bleckley County, a rural community of about 12,000 people located about 40 miles southeast of Macon.
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