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Former Rockdale deputy takes plea deal in sexual battery case

CONYERS, Ga. — A former Rockdale County deputy took a negotiated plea deal in a sexual battery case that targeted another county employee.

Dedra Hall will serve 12 months’ probation, pay a $1,000 fine and serve 40 hours of community service as a first-time offender.

Channel 2 investigative reporter Nicole Carr learned more about the case last fall when she filed an open records request for Hall's personnel records.

Hall initially denied the claims made by a now-former court clerk who was assigned to the same courtroom.

That woman told Channel 2 Action News and investigators that Hall had threatened and fondled her in a co-worker's office in April of 2018. Hall was charged with sexual battery in August.

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Investigators had trouble getting county employees to cooperate as witnesses and Hall resigned in lieu of termination last September.

On Thursday, the victim addressed the Rockdale County State Court during the plea hearing.

Channel 2 Action News has never identified her because she is the victim of sexual assault and requested the concealment.

“I was scared. I was shocked, confused and fearful as to why is it this (expletive) was groping and fondling my breasts,” she said. “I was horrified, Your Honor, as I stood in a co-worker’s office defenseless to the former deputy who intimidated me, being threatening, patting her gun, then boldly putting her hands in the opening of my dress three different forceful times.”

Hall wore sunglasses during the hearing. Her attorney, David LaMalva, declined to comment further on the case, saying his client had no comments, either. Carr saw Hall outside the courthouse, but she left the area as the Channel 2 Action News crew parked to approach her.

The victim no longer works for the county. She said the ordeal caused her to lose friendships with colleagues and personal relationships and it forced her to tell her young daughter about adult situations.

“There are thoughts that disgust me about the defendant,” she told the court. “I am angered and anguished. I envy the struggle coping as a survivor of sexual assault.”