GORDON COUNTY, Ga. — A former Gordon County commissioner and her husband entered pleas in a case where the two were accused of abusing their adopted children.
Channel 2 Action News previously reported when former Comm. Rebecca Hood and her husband Scott Hood were indicted.
The couple was arrested by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation in October, facing allegations of sexual and physical abuse of the couple’s adopted children. The GBI began investigating them in 2021.
As previously reported, Rebecca Hood was indicted for cruelty to children while Scott Hood was indicted for child molestation for inappropriately touching another of their daughters, which the indictment alleges dates back to November 2013.
Rebecca was indicted for allegations that she poured coffee on one of their daughters, grabbed her by the hair, pulled her to the ground by her hair, kicked her and called her an expletive.
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An attorney for the Hoods told Channel 2 Action News that both entered pleas on Friday.
Rebecca Hood pled guilty to the misdemeanor offense of reckless conduct, getting a 12 month probation sentence and an order to pay a fine, while Scott Hood took an Alford plea, accepting the sentence while admitting no guilt for a count of sexual battery and five years of probation with special conditions, the couple’s attorney said.
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In a statement on behalf of the Hoods, attorney Jason P. Hood said Scott Hood denies the allegations made against him and noted that the alleged victim in the case, the couple’s adopted daughter Kaitlynn, had recanted the allegation almost immediately after making it.
“The alleged victim in this case recanted her allegation against Mr. Hood almost immediately upon making it and, to this day, remains adamant Mr. Hood did not commit this offense. Largely for this reason, the court allowed him to enter a plea and be placed on probation without acknowledging factual guilt, a rare occurrence in Georgia courts,” the Hoods’ attorney said.
The attorney also referred to a lengthy post made by Kaitlynn Hood about the case released publicly on social media.
In the post, Kaitlynn Hood says, in part, “For the past five years, my family and I have lived through what can only be described as hell on earth. When I was 17 years old, I made a false allegation against my dad during a time when I was emotionally vulnerable, angry, and in an extremely poor mental state. I was influenced by adult extended family members, who were involved in my life at the time, and I did not have the maturity or clarity to understand the consequences of what was happening.”
She went further, saying that despite recanting her statement, " that recantation was never acknowledged, followed up on, or meaningfully addressed."
The Hoods’ attorney said the couple will have no further comment on the topic.
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