Cop Sexually Assaulted 15-Year-Old Girl: Lawyer

EAST POINT, GA — A local police sergeant has been fired after accusations that he sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl he had picked up while on duty.

WSB-TV reports that East Point Police Sgt. Richard Gooddine has been terminated. A spokeswoman for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation told Patch in an email that the agency is investigating the case.

A lawyer for the girl's family told WSB that Gooddine appears to have followed her, another girl and two boys from a Waffle House. The four teens stopped at Sykes Park, where Gooddine approached the group. The attorney says the sergeant let the other three go, but told the 15-year-old girl she was being detained for violating curfew.

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At that point, the family's lawyer says, Gooddine took her to an apartment complex and sexually assaulted her. Thomas Reynolds told the station that Gooddine kept the girl for three hours before taking her home.

WSB reports that, in 2011, Gooddine was investigated, but not prosecuted, on allegations of sexual battery and child molestation.

To read WSB-TV's full report, click here.

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