Georgia sheriff pleads guilty to groping TV Judge Glenda Hatchett
A Georgia sheriff admitted in court Monday to groping television Judge Glenda Hatchett during a law enforcement conference last year before another lawman pushed him away.
Creepy top cop Kristopher Coody also resigned from the Bleckley County Sheriff’s Office the same day he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of sexual battery in Cobb County Superior Court, according to reports.
The plea came after Coody put his hand on Hatchett’s left breast at a Georgia Sheriff’s Association conference in January 2022 as the judge was being introduced to a group of sheriffs at a hotel bar, prosecutors and a witness said.
A former DeKalb County sheriff, Thomas Brown, caught the shocking moment and intervened.
“I saw his hand go down on her left breast,” Brown previously told WSB-TV. “I grabbed his arm, threw it off of her chest.”
Following the guilty plea, Hatchett, an Atlanta lawyer, told reporters that Coody “grabbed” and “squeezed” her left breast, according to WXIA.
“He then started rubbing on my breast,” she said before Brown “literally had to take his hand off of me and push him off of me.”
Hatchett said in court the ordeal “has cut me to the core,” according to the station.
“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,” she reportedly said.
She stars in the courtroom show “The Verdict with Judge Hatchett” and prior to that appeared in “The Judge Hatchett Show.”
Coody’s attorney, Joel Pugh, confirmed his client sent a resignation letter to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp Monday morning.
He was sentenced to one year of probation and given a $500 fine and 400 hours of community service.
Coody claimed in a long-winded statement he “had no intent to touch Ms. Hatchett inappropriately.”
“Unfortunately, I acted in a careless manner and for that I have taken full responsibility for my actions,” he said, according to WXIA, adding later, “I would like to apologize to the citizens of Bleckley County for the entirety of this unfortunate incident.”
He also vowed to overcome “this setback.”
“I have never allowed my mistakes to dictate who I am or diminish my spirit and resolve,” he said.
With Post wires
