Former Alabama Corrections Officer Pleads Guilty to Raping Two Georgia Women

A former corrections officer from Alabama ended up pleading guilty in the middle of his trial today.

He pleaded guilty to the following offenses:

• Rape in Georgia
• Aggravated Sodomy in Georgia
• False Imprisonment in Georgia
• Aggravated Assault in Georgia
• And Aggravated Sexual Battery in Georgia.

The prosecuting attorneys in the case stated that he raped two women at local hotels in Sandy Springs. In both instances, the man flashed a badge, a gun, and a can of pepper spray and falsely identified himself as a police officer. Over five years later, he repeated the same incident with a different victim - only this time he recorded the entire incident on his cellphone.

As a Georgia Sex Crimes Lawyer, I will outline the offense of rape in today's post as to better clarify one of the offenses that the man in the story above pleaded guilty to earlier today.

Rape in Georgia

Rape in Georgia is defined by Georgia Law in O.C.G.A. §16-6-1 as:

(a) A person commits the offense of rape when he has carnal knowledge of:

(1) A female forcibly and against her will; or

(2) A female who is less than ten years of age.

Legally, carnal knowledge is defined as when there is any penetration of the female sex organ by the male sex organ.

The fact that the person allegedly raped is the wife of the defendant shall not be a defense to a charge of rape.

A person convicted of the offense of rape shall be punished by death, by imprisonment for life without parole, by imprisonment for life, or by a split sentence that is a term of imprisonment for not less than 25 years and not exceeding life imprisonment, followed by probation for life.

Practice Note

Not only is the story above horrifying but the man was not only arrested but he pleaded guilty and has been convicted. There is a difference between each stage of the criminal justice process. Just because someone has been arrested does not mean that he or she is guilty. However, when it comes to sex crimes in Georgia, people tend to assume guilt from the moment of the arrest.

If you or a loved one has been arrested for a crime in Georgia, contact our offices today. We can help you now.