Police Sgt. accused of sexually assaulting girl, 15, faced other allegations

EAST POINT, Ga. — Channel 2 Action News has learned the former East Point police officer under investigation in the sexual assault of a teenager this month has had three other sexual misconduct or inappropriate touching allegations made against him since 2011.

The latest incident involving Sgt. Richard Gooddine is under investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Gooddine was fired from the police department last week.

Channel 2 investigative reporter Nicole Carr was the only reporter to meet Gooddine at headquarters as he was terminated. He told her he was not guilty of the allegation involving the 15-year-old girl.

Days earlier, investigative reporter Mark Winne interviewed the latest victim's mother and attorney, who said Gooddine assaulted the girl while on duty and stalked her in the hospital hallways.

As Winne learned of a similar case involving a minor in 2011, he requested Gooddine’s personnel file.

Carr obtained the file early Wednesday afternoon and discovered two additional sexual misconduct and inappropriate touching investigations from 2016 and 2017.

The first involved an arrestee who told police she was nearly 60 years old when Gooddine allegedly “brushed against her breast” while she was handcuffed for driving under a suspended license.

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The stop took place in front of a gas station, and the woman told investigators Gooddine appeared intoxicated. She said she felt uncomfortable during the frisk, which happened in front of her grandchild.

Gooddine was not equipped with a body camera at the time of the March 2016 incident, and a colleague who pulled up after the arrest described Gooddine as “extremely laid-back.”

That officer said he never saw Gooddine do anything unprofessional.

In an August 2017 incident, a woman arrested for shoplifting in Walmart claimed Gooddine pulled her pants back in the patrol car and fondled her. The woman reported the incident to Gooddine’s partner, who wasn’t present during the incident, in the jail sally port.

He told investigators he was instructed by a superior not to respond to the woman, as the incident would end up under investigation.

Gooddine passed a polygraph by answering “no” to four questions regarding the allegations, and investigators said jail and Walmart video don’t show Gooddine doing anything inappropriate.

Both internal affairs investigations were deemed “not sustained.”

The East Point Police Department has declined to comment on Gooddine amid the ongoing GBI investigation.

Cox Media Group