Crime & Safety
Ex-Cop Indicted On Multiple Sex-Assault Charges
Two of the police sergeant's victims were younger than 16 years old and he tried to threaten one of them afterward, Fulton prosecutors say.
ATLANTA, GA — A Fulton County grand jury has indicted a former police sergeant on charges that he sexually assaulted four victims, including a 15-year-old girl he had picked up while on duty and another girl who was younger than 16.
Richard Gooddine, 38, is a former sergeant with the East Point Police Department. He is now officially charged on 17 counts, including aggravated sexual battery, child molestation, violating his oath as an officer and threatening a witness.
The charges stem from incidents in 2011, 2016, 2017 and this year, prosecutors say.
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According to Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard, Gooddine tried to threaten the 15-year-old girl and her mother, showing up at Atlanta Medical Center South and looking for them while the girl was there to undergo a sexual-assault test.
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"In my nearly fifteen years of experience as a prosecutor, I have never heard of a case where an
assailant attempted to contact his victim while she was undergoing tests at the hospital," Howard said in a news release. "His actions were unbelievable."
A lawyer for the girl's family told WSB-TV 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.
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.
The aggravated sexual battery charges against Gooddine each carry a sentence of 25 years to life in prison, Howard said.
Prosecutors say a key piece of evidence leading to the indictments was a statement Gooddine made to a fellow East Point Police officer after the August incident with the 15 year old. "I f---ed up," Gooddine told the other officer, according to Howard.
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