Suspended Effingham County Commissioner Reggie Loper pled guilty Monday, resolving a 2023 case involving allegations of sexual assault.
Loper appeared in Effingham County Superior Court on Monday morning before Judge Gates Peed alongside his legal counsel, attorney Lori Welch. The case was prosecuted by Augusta ADA Justin Williams after District Attorney Daphne Totten’s office conflicted out.
Loper was arrested by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation in 2023 on charges of Child Molestation and Sexual Battery.
In March of 2024, the case was presented to grand jury – roughly ten months after he was first arrested for Child Molestation and Sexual Battery. A True Bill of Indictment on two charges: Sexual Battery Against a Child Under 16 and Sexual Battery. The true bill was not returned on the initial Child Molestation charge.
The 2024 indictment included the names of two alleged victims, one of whom is a minor, whereas the warrants from 2023 only named one alleged minor victim.
The indictment alleged that Loper ‘did intentionally make physical contact with the intimate parts of the body of another person (alleged victim’s name), a child under the age of 16 years, without the consent of the child, by placing the hands of said accused on the breast and buttock of (alleged victim’s name). The incident was alleged to have occurred between August 1, 2017 and August 1, 2020.
On the second count, the allegation was that Loper made contact with the intimate parts of (alleged victim #2) without the consent of that person, by placing the hands of said accused on the buttock of (alleged victim #2). This incident was alleged to have occurred between September 12, 2014 and September 11, 2015.
But during the process of court proceedings, it was determined that the statute of limitations on the incident alleged by the second individual had expired. Subsequently, the state could not move forward with the charge.
Monday’s Court Appearance
Augusta Assistant District Attorney Justin Williams told the court that a new accusation had been filed Friday, August 23 in hopes of getting the case resolved. He noted that the victim in the case had struggled with the effects of coming forward.
Williams also told the court that the accusations came to light in September 2022. At that time, the victim alleged to a mandatory reporter that an employee of Loper on the family farm, Marion Major, had sexually assaulted her. It was turned over to the Effingham County Sheriff’s Office, who conducted an interview. During that interview, Williams said, the young woman also disclosed that she’d been touched inappropriately by Loper. Due to the conflict with the county commission office, ECSO turned the case over to the GBI.
Williams lamented that the accuser in the case had been consistent throughout the process and that she maintained the touching usually began with an “innocent hug around the waist or small of her back” but resulted in touching of her buttocks or chest.
“This case has been high profile because of Mr. Loper’s standing in the community and we felt it was best to try to resolve it today for [the victim],” Williams said.
The new accusation filed Friday eliminated formal charges of sexual contact and instead listed Simple Battery – a misdemeanor. The facts of the case, however, still coincided with the victim’s allegations, Williams said.
Loper stood at the podium and accepted responsibility for the Simple Battery charge, with his attorney noting that it was offered under an Alford Plea.
An Alford plea is a guilty plea in which a defendant maintains their innocence but admits that the prosecution’s evidence would likely result in a guilty verdict if brought to trial. Not all states allow Alford pleas, but Georgia does. In many cases, an Alford plea is entered in hopes of a lesser sentence. Defendants sometimes believe that they will receive a lighter sentence than if they are found guilty at trial and then sentenced, a concept better known as a ‘trial tax.’ (A penalty for asserting one’s right to a trial by a jury of their peers.)
The state did not oppose the defense’s request for an Alford Plea, but during victim statements, the mother of the victim asked the court to deny the acceptance of the plea as an Alford Plea.
“My daughter doesn’t get probation and a clean slate on her life,” she said. She also took the opportunity to rebut defense attempts to bring her daughter’s mental health into the case, as they previously requested medical recordings regarding her daughter. “Mental illness does not make you a liar,” she said.
The court heard a letter from the victim read by ADA Williams, in which she wrote about the hardships placed on her and her family over the course of the court case. “The family that stuck with me through this are my real family…All of this has made my daily living difficult,” she wrote.
Ultimately, Peed accepted the negotiated plea, which included 12 months probation, a $500 fine, a 4th Amendment waiver, and a no contact order with the victim or the mother of the victim. The plea was accepted as an Alford Plea as well as with a sentence under the First Offender Act.
“Under the circumstances and in light of the explanation from the attorneys, I will accept the agreement,” Peed said.
As for the other sexual offenses for which Loper was charged, they will be Nolle Prossed, or dismissed. The child molestation case against Marion Major involving the same victim is still pending.
