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This past week, Conaway & Strickler’s Meg Strickler and Chelsea Thomas tried a capital case in Fulton County Superior Court. Our client was facing life in prison. Ms. Thomas and Ms. Strickler were able to secure a NOT GUILTY verdict. The jury deliberated just 30 minutes.
Police have an obligation to investigate all accusations. However, when accusations involve claims of sexual assault, it may not always be easy for authorities to gain sufficient evidence to gain a conviction. Although details of an alleged incident between two students at a private school are unclear, police have recently arrested a private school student in Georgia and charged him with rape.
According to reports, the alleged victim sought treatment at a hospital. Hospital staff then contacted police. Police say that an investigation — including interviews with the victim as well as other parties — led them to believe that there is probable cause to make an arrest and file charges.
The accuser and the defendant reportedly attend the same private school. Police say that they do not believe that the reported attack was random but that both parties knew each other. They also claim that they do not believe that there are other victims. The 18-year-old defendant, currently in jail, is charged with statutory rape and rape.
Many people convicted as sex offenders in Georgia spend extended time in prison and are then released back into public life. The law requires that such persons be categorized as to the severity of the crime they committed and their likelihood to re-offend. Those listed in category three, the highest group for the worst sex crimes, must register as offenders for the rest of their lives, and they must also wear tracking devices on their ankles.
Many may be surprised to learn that people (who have already served their full sentences) wearing ankle monitors post-prison are required to pay for the devices. The entire topic is being hotly debated in a Georgia Supreme Court. One justice said it is unfair to place that financial burden on someone who has already fulfilled the sentence for the crime committed. He noted that even a few dollars a day adds up to more per year than many people are able to afford.
Another surprising detail regarding ankle monitors worn by past offenders in this state is that if they remove them or do not wear them, there is no legal consequence. In other words, the state says the devices are meant to help authorities keep track of past offenders but are not punitive in any way. As such, some say the requirement is unconstitutional. One man who was fitted with a device then moved to another county where authorities chose not to make him wear it.
Sex crimes: Serving one’s community in the capacity of a city council member is considered by many to be a worthwhile endeavor. Being accused of criminal wrongdoing while serving on a council, however, may not only ruin a person’s reputation but also cause immediate and long-lasting consequences, even before the court addresses the situation. A 53-year-old man in Georgia is facing such charges for alleged sex crimes he committed with a teenage girl.
The council member is suspected of having had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl. Authorities claim the relationship has been ongoing since the girl was age 13. Her mother is said to have reported the relationship between her daughter and the man to police.
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A martial arts instructor in Georgia has been accused of sex crimes. The child molestation allegations have apparently pitted members of the community against one another. Some have rallied around him in defense of his good character and presumed innocence, while others have stated they believe the accusations are true.
The man has reportedly been teaching Taekwondo for at least 30 years. The recent allegations involve claims that he acted inappropriately with a 15-year-old boy at his apartment. The martial arts instructor stated he was merely practicing a particular self-defense move and that absolutely no crime took place.
After word of the recent accusations spread throughout the man’s community, another supposed allegation surfaced. This situation involved a woman who said the same instructor did something inappropriate to her when he was in his twenties and she was his martial arts student. The instructor is currently age 59.
A supervisor who was apparently working for Georgia Institute of Technology is now facing criminal charges related to illicit sexual behavior. The man is accused of sex crimes in connection with two supposed incidents that are said to have taken place in a student dormitory. The 52-year-old man was arrested on June 22, 2016.
Two days earlier, an unnamed person accused the supervisor of sexually harassing a female employee. The supposed incidents took place on two separate occasions earlier in June. The defendant was employed as the Senior Director of Housing Facilities Management at the university at the time the alleged acts occurred.
Sex Crimes: A spokesperson for Georgia Tech announced that the man was arrested and charged with sexual battery and aggravated sexual battery. At the time of this writing, he remained in police custody at a county jail. The university has placed him on administrative leave.
Various incidents have occurred in Georgia in recent years that involve inappropriate sex acts against children. One recent case has apparently led to a Southwest mayor being indicted on charges of sex crimes. The 26-year-old mayor was reportedly elected to his position in 2012.
The politician now faces several serious sex offense charges regarding his alleged sexual involvement with minors. Aggravated sodomy and rape are among the allegations against the man. Bond has been set at $50,000
The mayor is currently being held in jail in Terrell County. Authorities seem to have become alerted to his possible sexual offenses during another man’s court trial. That 51-year-old man was convicted and sentenced to serve eight life sentences.
Persons numbering in the double digits were apparently involved in recent arrests made in connection with suspected illicit online activities. Three of the accused pleaded guilty on a recent Wednesday for the alleged sex crimes. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation and other authorities arrested 22 individuals in May resulting from a child sex sting operation.
Authorities say that agents posed as underage girls online, attempting to gain contact with adults who might want to engage in sexual interactions with minors. Investigators are said to have created their own online pages, and also commented on the pages of others in order to establish a connection with the potential suspects. The respective ages of the three who were recently convicted and sentenced were 25, 41 and 52.
Among those convicted were a truck driver, the owner of a restaurant and a former jailer for the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office. Each of them was sentenced to eights years in prison, followed by probation. Reportedly, the majority of the accused individuals have no prior criminal record.
Sex Crimes: There are times in each person’s life when one finds oneself in a less than ideal predicament. Many times this may involve the police, which could mean one will be facing serious legal problems. This is what two men in Georgia now face after recently being arrested for a variety of charges, including statutory rape.
The two men found themselves in a high-speed chase with police one evening in mid-November. It turns out the two suspects had a runaway juvenile with them at the time. The incident started when authorities had learned the runaway girl was traveling with the suspects along the highway. The chase eventually ended with a shootout with police.
Apparently, the two men and the runaway girl decided to ditch the vehicle they were traveling in and attempted to run away from police officers on foot. However, one man was caught by authorities while the girl was shocked by police using a Taser. The other suspect was shot by police officers and was then transported to a local medical facility for treatment.
Running away from law enforcement is not the situation in which a person would usually like to be. However, many people end up in this predicament, which typically leads to an eventual arrest and serious criminal charges that could come with heavy penalties if a person is convicted. It appears that one man is now dealing with this exact problem and, after extradition to Georgia, will face charges for alleged sex crimes.
Reportedly, the man had been on the run from authorities since early July. The 51-year-old was originally charged with kidnapping, rape and sodomy. The police received a tip regarding the man’s whereabouts in another state. This led the authorities to confront a man who had been a former prison mate of the fugitive.
When asked about the fugitive’s whereabouts, the former prison mate apparently told police he had just given the fugitive a ride to some other location approximately 20 minutes prior. However, investigators say they found the man’s story suspicious and decided to search his home. The search is said to have led police to discover the fugitive in a bedroom in the back of the Texas residence.
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