A Georgia sheriff pled guilty to groping prominent TV Judge Glenda Hatchett at a Cobb County hotel in January 2022.
Cobb County officers charged Bleckley County Sheriff Kristopher Coody with sexual battery after he groped Judge Hatchett on Jan. 18, 2022 at the Renaissance Atlanta Waverly on Galleria Parkway.
According to the warrant, obtained by Fox 5 News, Coody and Hatchett were in the hotel’s bar when he placed “his hand on the breast of the victim without her consent.”
The arrest sparked outrage online, and Judge Hatchett’s supporters called for Coody to be fired.
However, at the time, the governor’s office said the incident didn’t rise to the level required to fire the sheriff.
Coody pled guilty to one misdemeanor charge of sexual battery in court on Monday, Aug. 21, and was sentenced to 12 months probation, 40 hours of community service, and a fine of $500, Fox 5 reported.
He resigned effective immediately, according to WGXA News.
Judge Hatchett, an Atlanta native, was the first Black Chief Presiding Judge of a state court in Georgia presiding over the largest juvenile court system in the country.
She left Fulton County in 2000 to preside over the nationally syndicated television show, “Judge Hatchett.” The show is still in syndication.
