Cobb Officer Facing Sex-Attack Charges Resigns

MARIETTA, GA — A Cobb County police office facing violent sex-crime charges has resigned from the department.

Robert Lanier New's resignation is effective immediately, the department announced Monday evening. He had been placed on administrative leave without pay.

New, 46, was arrested earlier this month on charges that he choked and slapped a mentally disabled woman during sex. Days later, new charges alleged that New sent sexually explicit text messages trying to make the woman convince her 12-year-old niece to have sex with them.

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The charges against New include aggravated assault, felony criminal solicitation and computer pornography.

According to the charges against him, the sex attack against the woman, who police say has the mental capacity of a 10-to-14 year old, happened some time in March at his home on Hawkins Store Road in Kennesaw. She told detectives that New slapped both sides of her face so hard that she cried and that she couldn't tell him to stop because he was strangling her.

New, who began working at the police department in 2005, stands 5'11" and weighs 245 pounds, according to sheriff's office records. During the woman's police interview, she was "shaking due to fear," according to an arrest warrant.

After the woman tried to distance herself from New, charges say he continued to send her threatening and sexually graphic text messages, trying to get the woman and her young niece to have sex with him. Those texts were sent from May 31 to June 12, according to the warrant.

In one of the messages, New wrote, "I am in charge, I am in control," according to the arrest warrant.

New continues to be held at Cobb County Adult Detention Center without bond, according to sheriff's office records.

Photo courtesy Cobb County Sheriff's Office