A Georgia sheriff resigned from his post Monday after pleading guilty to groping TV judge Glenda Hatchett last year, WSB-TV reported.
In an arrest warrant obtained by the news station, authorities said Bleckley County Sheriff Kris Coody groped Hatchett’s chest during the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association’s meeting in January 2022.
“For this man to come up and violate me the way he did is unspeakable,” Hatchett said in court, according to WSB. Earlier, she thanked the community for rallying around her.
Former Dekalb County Sheriff Thomas Brown, who had brought Hatchett to the meeting as a guest, told WSB that Coody grabbed Hatchett as Brown was introducing her to sheriffs at a hotel bar.
“I saw his hand go down on her left breast,” Brown told WSB. “I grabbed his arm, threw it off of her chest.”
He said he admonished Coody “and that’s basically where it ended.”
Coody agreed Monday to serve 12 months of probation and 40 hours of community service for sexual battery, WSB reported. He also agreed to a $500 fine and to undergo an alcohol and drug course, according to the news station.
Coody had served as sheriff of rural Bleckley County since 2017, according to The Associated Press. The county includes about 12,000 residents.
Hatchett starred in the reality courtroom show “Judge Hatchett” from 2000 to 2008. She also stars in “The Verdict with Judge Hatchett,” which launched in 2016 on Justice Central. She previously served as the chief presiding judge of the Fulton County Juvenile Court.
