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.
“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 his connection to “The heart of Georgia.”
Multiple community leaders and activists pressed Kemp to suspend the former sheriff, even hosting rallies in front of the Capitol building.
Hatchett spoke out in court about how this ordeal has impacted her.
“My entire professional career, I have been involved in supporting victims. I have seen in my courtroom so many victims over the years,” she said. “To be on this side of this is very difficult. It is important for the defendant, and everyone present to understand the horrific effect this has had on me. This has cut me to the core.”
Cobb County State Court judge Carl Bowers took time out during the hearing to thank Hatchett for coming to his courtroom. He then apologized for the lengthiness of the case and for what she had to go through.
Bowers also said if Coody violates orders not to contact Hatchett, he will be locked up.
“I will lock you up. Not a threat, simply a promise,” he said.
