After pleading guilty to a sexual battery charge regarding an incident with former TV judge Glenda Hatchett, a Georgia sheriff has resigned.
Bleckley County Sheriff Kristopher Coody plead guilty to a misdemeanor sexual battery charge against Hatchett on Monday, Aug. 21, before stepping down.
Coody confessed to groping Hatchett’s breast at the Renaissance Atlanta Waverly Hotel and Convention Center Bar in January 2022. The incident took place during the Georgia Sheriff’s Association meeting while Hatchett was being introduced to a group of sheriffs at a bar at the hotel.
Related: ‘What Are You Doing?’: Georgia Sheriff Facing Sexual Crime Charge for Allegedly Groping Judge Hatchett at a Conference, Forcing Another Guest to Remove His Hands
“For this man to come up and violate me the way he did is unspeakable,” Hatchett said in court, according to WSB-TV in Atlanta.
As part of his sentencing, Coody will serve 12 months on probation. He also has to complete 40 hours of community service and an alcohol and drug course, plus pay a $500 fine.
He is ordered not to have any contact with the judge in the future as well. Coody submitted his resignation letter to the Georgia Sheriffs Association and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp after the hearing, reports show.
Former sheriff of DeKalb County Thomas Brown said he personally witnessed the violation on Coody’s part and intervened. He said he was introducing Hatchett at the conference as a featured guest and turned his head for a second to return to Coody inappropriately touching her.
“As I turned to my left to focus back on the two of them, I saw his hand go down on her left breast,” Brown said. “I grabbed his arm, threw it off of her chest and basically said, ‘What are you (adjective) think you’re doing?’ and that’s basically where it ended.”
According to Brown, the sheriff seemed intoxicated as he placed his hands on the judge’s breast and did so to demonstrate…
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