Crime & Safety

Guilty Verdict Returned in Oconee County Child Molestation Case

The trial of John David Cooper of Watkinsville lasted three days.

A former Georgia Department of Labor employee was found guilty of child molestation this week in Oconee County Superior Court.

Following a trial that lasted three days, a jury convicted John David Cooper, 45, of Watkinsville on four counts of child molestation and 15 counts of sexual exploitation of a child, according to the Athens Banner Herald.


The abuse of the victim, a girl under the age of 16, began in 2007 and continued over the course of three years, according to earlier reports.Β  Authorities also said they found images of child pornography in Cooper's possession. He was arrested in February of this year and indicted in April.

Assistant District Attorney Kris Bolden told the Athens Banner-Herald that prosecutors will push for a sentence carrying "a significant amount of time."


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