South Georgia sheriff pleads guilty to groping TV's Judge Hatchett

A South Georgia sheriff has resigned after pleading guilty to sexual battery for groping TV judge Glenda Hatchett last year.

Cobb County Judge Carl Bowers sentenced Bleckley County Sheriff Kristopher Coody to 12 months probation, 40 hours of community service, and a $500 fine. He must also complete a psychosexual evaluation and an alcohol and drug course.

The incident occurred during a reception during a conference for the Georgia Sheriff's Association in Cobb County in January 2022.

At a news conference a few hours after the sentencing at Stewart Miller Simmon, the law firm where she works, Hatchett spoke candidly about what happened "so there could be no misunderstanding."

"The defendant came up uninvited," she said. 

She said, following a conversation where she asked him where Bleckley County was located, "He grabbed my left breast. He squeezed it. He then started rubbing on my breast until [former DeKalb County Sheriff] Thomas Brown intervened — literally had to take his (Coody's) hands off of me and pushed him off of me." 

Later, Hatchett said she realized how helpless she felt.

"And I was angry," she said. "Frankly, I was angry that I didn't slap him. I didn't kick him. But now I understand victims. I was absolutely frozen."

The following day, she filed charges against Coody.

Hatchett said her message to victims is for them to "speak up."  

While Hatchett said she felt she received justice with the sentence, she blasted Gov. Brian Kemp for not suspending Coody, which allowed him "to hold on to not only his salary and pension."

GPB News has reached out to the governor’s office for comment.