Former Officer, Convicted Child Molester, Sentenced to 40 Years

A former officer with the Cartersville Police Department convicted in September on child molestation charges has been sentenced for the crime.

Bartow County Superior Court Judge Suzanne H. Smith on Tuesday, Nov. 18 sentenced James Perry Scott to 40 years, with 20 to serve incarcerated and the rest on probation.

Along with the 40-year sentence, Scott was also given a number of special conditions while serving on probation, such as his entry into a sex offender evaluation and treatment program and to have no contact of any kind with the victim.

Scott in September was convicted by a jury on four counts of child molestation.

State prosecutor Elizabeth York made several comments to the court before sentencing, “with the most poignant being that the child victim in this case would be affected forever by the choices” made by Scott, the office of Cherokee Judicial Circuit District Attorney Rosemary Greene said in a news release.

York added that Scott, “who, at one time, was an investigator, charged with the duty to investigate these same type crimes and who fully understood the forever harm suffered by the victims,” the news release said.

Scott’s mother and his two daughters also spoke on his behalf, asking the judge to ”extend mercy” in the court’s sentencing. That same request for leniency was also made by Scott’s attorney Chris Paul in his comments to the court.

After sentencing, Paul indicated to the court that an appeal of Scott’s conviction would be sought.

Scott was arrested in June 2012 and initially charged with three counts of child molestation and two counts of aggravated child molestation.

According to 2012 report from WRGA, Scott was a former officer with the Cartersville Police Department from July 1997 until September 2011 when his employment was terminated. He also served as a sheriff’s deputy with the Bartow County Sheriff’s Office at one point before the tenure of current Sheriff Clark Millsap, the radio station reported.

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