TV Judge Glenda Hatchett speaks out after alleged groping by Bleckley County Sheriff

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN/WSB)- Glenda Hatchett, known for her role as TV’s Judge Hatchett, addressed the community support she has received since the investigation into a Georgia sheriff accused of groping her last year while inside a hotel bar in Cobb County. Hatchett, who is the first African-American chief presiding judge of a state court in Georgia, spoke publicly for the first time since the incident during a news conference Tuesday.

“The love and support that I have gotten from this community. I don’t have words to describe it. I am enormously grateful,” Hatchett said, holding back tears.

According to court documents from the January 2022 incident, Bleckley County Sheriff Kris Coody allegedly grabbed Hatchett’s chest at the Waverly Bar while she was attending the Georgia Sheriff’s Associations Winter Meeting. Coody is charged with one count of sexual battery and is reportedly working on a plea deal with Cobb County prosecutors.

Hatchett, who was recently introduced as the newest member of the prominent Atlanta-based law firm Stewart Miller Simmons Trial Attorneys, did not comment further on the case, stating that it is still in the court system and has not been resolved on the criminal side.

At the time, a spokesperson for Coody said that he is taking the allegations seriously.