Cobb County police arrested a former Republican Party chairman on child molestation charges against two boys, the first allegation occurring between 2004 and 2006. During this particular incident, the former chairman is accused of taking one of the boys in a department store for a sexual act. This boy was involved in another alleged occurrence in the chairman’s home and later, in a closet at a Cobb County Baptist church where the chairman and his wife are members. The second boy was four years old when he was allegedly molested, an incident witnessed by the first child.
The Cobb County judge overseeing the case denied the former chairman bond, so he remains in jail. He recently attended his arraignment during which the charges were read to him, and the judge pleaded not guilty on his behalf because a lawyer did not represent him. According to the Marietta Daily Journal, a spokesperson for Cobb’s District Attorney’s Office explained that “a judge is going to have a hard time accepting a guilty plea from a defendant who does not have an attorney to advise them of their rights, so a not-guilty plea is the default option.”
The lawyer who represented the former chairman at his bond hearing was present but informed the court that he was no longer representing the defendant and has had “no contact with him.” The former chairman affirmed the attorney’s claim. Pretrial motions are set for early November before the same Cobb Superior Court judge.