EFFINGHAM COUNTY, Ga. — Effingham County Commissioner Reginald “Reggie” Loper was indicted on charges of sexual battery and child molestation on Monday.
Court records show the indictment was approved by a grand jury, and follows his arrest in May 2023 after an investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
As previously reported by Channel 2 Action News, Loper, 84, was accused last year of child abuse and sexual battery. The Effingham County Sheriff’s Office asked the GBI to investigate the allegations in Jan. 2023.
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Footage of his arrest at the Effingham County Jail showed the commissioner referencing his political position while being processed and booked at the jail, telling deputies there that ‘Y’all probably heard of me.”
At the time, he also told deputies that “We built this new jail and all.” The Board of Commissioners said they would not comment on Loper’s “situation” back in May, but the commission site still shows Loper as an active member of the board.
Court documents show Loper was officially indicted on Monday, March 18 in the Ogeechee Judicial Circuit.
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Loper was indicted for sexual battery against a child younger than 16, and is accused of abusing the female child in question “between the 1st day of August 2017 and the 1st day of August 2020.”
Records show that his charges stem from allegedly committing sexual battery on another female victim between Sept. 12, 2014 and Sept. 11, 2015.
Additional court records show that the child molestation charge was not presented to a grand jury, though it remains on his arrest record from the Effingham County Sheriff’s Office and the GBI. The child molestation charge was filed in court records on Jan. 22, 2024.
Channel 2 Action News has reached out to the GBI for potential updates on the case and asked the Effingham County Board of Commissioners for comment on Loper’s status as commissioner and on the case. We are waiting for their responses.
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