Hall County Jail Employee Arrested for Sexual Misconduct

Hall County Courthouse

Gainesville, Ga. - A jailer working in the Hall County Jail has been arrested this past week on charges of violation of oath and sexual assault.

According to authorities, he resigned before his pending termination earlier this month. Not many details have been released, but Sheriff Gerald Couch stated, “Actions of this type cannot and will not be tolerated, nor will I hesitate to request a criminal investigation by the GBI into such matters. Most of our employees do a tremendous job under often difficult conditions. In this case, the tenacity of the jail supervisory staff helped resolve this matter very quickly.”

As a Georgia Criminal Defense Lawyer, I will outline the offense of sexual assault in today's post. It is one of the most improperly referred to and defined offenses, so my goal is to provide some clarity as to what the law actually states.

Sexual Assault in Georgia

Sexual Assault in Georgia is defined by the Georgia Code in O.C.G.A. §16-5-5.1 as:

When a person who has supervisory or disciplinary authority over another individual engages in sexual contact with them.

By law sexual contact is any contact between the actor and a person not married to the actor involving the intimate parts of either person for the sexual gratification of the actor.

What separates sexual assault from other sex crimes in the state of Georgia is the element of the actor having supervisory or disciplinary authority. These relationships include:

• Teacher, principal, assistant principal, or other school administrators
• Probation officer, or other employees that have authority over parolees or probationers
• Employee or agent of a law enforcement agency with a person detained or in custody
• Employee or agent of a hospital who has sexual contact with a patient while being treated
• Employee or agent of a correctional or juvenile justice facility, or disability facility; or
• Psychotherapists with their patients
• Teacher, principal, assistant principal, or other school administrators
• Probation officer, or other employees that have authority over parolees or probationers
• Employee or agent of a law enforcement agency with a person detained or in custody
• Employee or agent of a hospital who has sexual contact with a patient while being treated
• Employee or agent of a correctional or juvenile justice facility, or disability facility; or
• Psychotherapists with their patients

Sexual assault is classified as a felony which means the penalties can include up to twenty years in prison as well as fines up to $100,000.

Practice Note

Call our offices now if you or a loved one has been arrested in our state.