A Georgia sheriff has been charged after accusations that he groped TV judge Glenda Hatchett at a public event.
Besides starring in her arbitration-based reality court shows, Judge Hatchett (2000-2008) and The Verdict with Judge Hatchett (2016-present), the judge hasn’t made any serious headlines over the years. However, that recently change as she is now an alleged victim of sexual assault.
1. Judge Hatchett was allegedly groped at a public function.
On May 10, several news outlets reported that a Georgia Sheriff is currently facing charges for inappropriately touching Judge Hatchett.
According to WSB-TV, Bleckley County Sheriff Kris Coody is being accused of groping the popular television judge at a sheriff’s convention earlier this year.
2. A former DeKalb County sheriff, Thomas Brown, was listed as a witness to the alleged incident.
He said that Hatchett was his guest at the conference, and that Coody groped her as he was introducing her to sheriffs at the Renaissance Atlanta Waverly Bar.
Brown says three sheriffs, including Coody, came to the standup table. As he turned his head away from Coody, Brown claims when he turned his head back he saw Coody’s “hand go down on her left breast.”
3. It was then that Brown physically intervened.
“I grabbed his arm threw it off of her chest and basically said, ‘What are you (adjective) think you’re doing?’” Brown recalled, according to the outlet. “And that’s basically where it ended.”
Brown says that he was so angry that his first reaction was to do more than just throw Coody’s hand off of Judge Hatchett.
“She was there as my guest, so I was obviously upset,” Brown explained. “Obviously mad. He was obviously intoxicated.”
“After that, she had a rough time of it,” Brown said of Judge Hatchett.
4. As for why he decided to make this story public, Brown simply explained that this was something that needed to be brought to light.
“I felt like I needed to say something, because the accusation is now out. It’s unsealed,” he said. “The judge had no problems with it being unsealed, because she’s a lot stronger now.”
5. Former Sheriff Kris Coody is being charged with sexual battery.
According to a statement from the sheriff’s office, Kris Coody turned himself in and is now being charged with sexual battery.
Per the statement, Coody is taking the charges very seriously and intends to comply with all legal obligations placed on him.
