ATLANTA — There are new details Thursday on an arrest warrant out for a Central Georgia sheriff.
The Cobb County Police Department is investigating an alleged sexual battery by Bleckley County Sheriff Kris Coody.
According to the warrant, it happened Jan. 18 at the Renaissance Atlanta Waverly hotel where the Georgia Sheriff’s Association was holding its winter meeting.
The warrant says Coody was at the bar after hours when he touched the breast of a woman there without her consent. It names the woman, who is a prominent Atlanta-area judge.
Cobb Police investigated her complaint and a magistrate judge issued a warrant for misdemeanor sexual battery for Coody 10 days later.
13WMAZ contacted the sheriff’s office and they said Coody is out of the country on a mission trip. He has not been arrested yet, so no mugshot is available at this time.
This case is still under investigation, and Cobb police say they will not be offering any additional statements.
The Bleckley County Sheriff's Office sent the following news release Friday afternoon:
"The Bleckley County Sheriff’s Office is aware of the outstanding warrant regarding Sheriff Coody. Sheriff Coody is currently participating in a church sponsored mission trip outside of the State of Georgia that has been scheduled for nearly a year.
Sheriff Coody has been a law enforcement officer for more than two decades and has tremendous respect for our court system. He is taking these allegations seriously and will meet with the appropriate authorities as soon as he returns.
The Bleckley County Sheriff’s Office has always and will continue to believe in complete transparency. However, we will not comment any further on these pending criminal charges to allow the investigation to continue without interference.
Sheriff Coody will provide more information at a later date as he is able to do so."
13WMAZ also obtained the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council (POST) file describing Coody's history in law enforcement.
It shows he's worked 34 years with the Georgia State Patrol, the Georgia Department of Agriculture, and the Bleckley County Sheriff's Office.
The POST record shows the state patrol fired Coody in 2007 after a bizarre series of incidents resulting from a domestic dispute, including allegations he let a 12-year-old drive his patrol cruiser on the highway and he hindered investigation of the domestic incident.
The state agency gave Coody a public reprimand, put him on probation for two years, and ordered him to attend anger-management classes.
Ten days after the state patrol fired Coody, he was hired by the Bleckley County Sheriff's Office as a deputy.
This is a developing story and we’ll have more on this story on 13WMAZ News at 5 and 6.
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