UPDATE: Deputy, EMT indicted for molestation
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CUTHBERT, GA – The Randolph County Sheriff's Office is minus one deputy and the county's EMS service is down an EMT. This, after Joanna Harris and Angle Gregors were indicted on child molestation charges.
"We're not alleging that they physically committed the crime of child molestation themselves, but they are a party to the crime," said Pataula Judicial Circuit District Attorney Craig Earnest.
The Quitman County Sheriff's Office requested assistance from the GBI in the case.
Earnest says the indictment stems from the results of the GBI investigation that revealed the two women knew that their children were having sex and did nothing to stop it.
"The female was 13 and the male was 16," Earnest said.
Prosecutors say they pursued this case against the two women because of the ages of the children involved.
"In this case both defendants were indicted with being a party to the crime. Anyone who aids, abets, encourages another one to commit a crime is just as guilty of committing that crime under the law of the state of Georgia as if they committed that crime,"
WALB learned that Joanna Harris was suspended from the Randolph County Sheriffs Office following the indictment but had previously put in her resignation to take a new job.
She spent 5 years with the sheriff's office earning the rank of Sergeant and most recently ran for sheriff in Quitman County where she was indicted.
Gregors is also suspended from her job pending the outcome of trial.
Earnest says parents need to understand the law if their underaged kids are having sex.
"If you have children committing sex, that is against the law and you, as a parent, have to stop it," aid Earnest.
Harris and Gregors were released from jail on a $20,000bond. We were unable to reach them for comment or to find out if they have hired attorneys.
No trial date has been set in the case.
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