Officer accused of assaulting teen girl faced similar allegations years ago

SOUTH FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Channel 2 Action News learned an officer under investigation for assaulting a teenager faced similar charges years ago.

Sgt. Richard Goodine, of the East Point Police Department, is under investigation after a 15-year-old girl accused him of sexual assault. We first brought you this story on Monday on Channel 2 Action News at 6. 

Channel 2's Mark Winne spoke to the victim's mother, who said her daughter was terrified and eventually told her about the incident.

"She was just so scared and terrified," she said.

The family's lawyer, Thomas Reynolds, said the officer stalked the halls of a hospital looking for the teenager he's accused of assaulting.

"It's very troubling to hear that this gentleman may have a history of this type of abuse, this type of abuse of authority," Reynolds said.

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The family's attorney said the mother of the 15-year-old girl who reported Goodine detained her at Sykes Park in East Point in the early morning darkness Monday, drove her around the city in his police car and sexually assaulted her in Village Highlands Apartments...

A Georgia Bureau of Investigation document indicates East Point Police requested GBI assistance, quote, "It was alleged that East Point Police Department Sgt. Richard Goodine molested a juvenile female while on duty."

Now, East Point Police Chief Tommy Gardner has confirmed to us Goodine was investigated in 2011 for sexual battery and child molestation, but the Fulton County District Attorney's office declined to prosecute determining that moving forward with the case would not be in the best interest of the alleged victim.

He said Goodine maintained his innocence.

The chief indicated on Tuesday afternoon via text to Winne that the alleged victim in that case was also 15 years old.

"The GBI investigated the same officer in 2011 and that case was turned over to the DA's office, and then in this new case that same officer is being investigated for sexual offenses against a minor," said GBI spokeswoman Nellie Miles.

Reynolds said he's trying to locate a witness who may have seen Goodine's police SUV while sitting on a utility box near building 1757 in Village Highlands smoking.

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