Cobb Cop Slapped, Choked A 'Mentally Delayed' Woman: Charges

MARIETTA, GA — A Cobb County police officer slapped and choked a woman with the mental capacity of an adolescent during sex, according to charges against him.

Officer Robert Lanier New is charged with aggravated assault. He was arrested Monday evening, according to the police department. The attack happened while New was off duty, the department said in a news release.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the incident happened some time in March, according to an arrest warrant, at New's home on Hawkins Store Road in Kennesaw. He choked the woman and slapped both sides of her face so hard that she cried, the report claims.

(For more news like this, find your local Patch here. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here.)

During an interview with investigators, she told detectives she couldn't tell him to stop because he was strangling her. During the interview, the woman was "shaking due to fear," the AJC quoted from the warrant.

New also sent the woman threatening text messages, according to the warrant. "I am in charge, I am in control," he wrote in one, according to the warrant. They continued through the end of March, even after the woman tried to distance herself from New, the AJC reported.

New has been placed on administrative leave and is being held at Cobb County Adult Detention Center.

Cobb County Police Chief Michael Register has scheduled a news conference for 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Photo courtesy Cobb County Sheriff's Office