A former Cobb Police officer assigned to patrol duties in Precinct 4 in East Cobb was sentenced to six years in prison and 14 more years on probation Monday for a 2018 assault on a woman.
According to the Cobb District Attorney’s Office, Robert New, now 51, pleaded guilty to that felony charge, as well as to another felony count of cruelty to children in the first degree.
A release issued by the DA’s office Tuesday said New was sentenced as a first offender in a non-negotiated hearing before Cobb Superior Court Judge James Bodiford.
New was charged with aggravated assault in June 2018 stemming from an off-duty incident with a woman who accused him of choking and slapping him during a sexual encounter at his home off Hawkins Store Road.
The DA’s office said police were alerted to the incident by a “good Samaritan” who said the woman had cognitive disabilities.
Police conducted a forensic interview with the the woman, who was 44 years old at the time, and concluded that due to a traumatic brain injury that occurred during childhood, she had the mental capacity of a 10-14-year-old child.
An internal affairs investigation determined that New met the woman online, and while the encounter was consensual, police said “the actions that took place during the encounter brought us to take out warrants against Officer New.”
The DA’s office said Tuesday that during a sexual encounter in May 2018, “the victim stated that New became violent during sex and choked her to the point of her not being able to breathe.”
Prosecutors said that in an interview with the victim, she said New wanted her to bring her juvenile niece and involve her in sexual activity. Police conducted a forensic analysis of New’s phone and arrested him, the DA’s office said, and he resigned a few days later.
Cobb Superior Court Judge Kellie Hill accepted New’s guilty plea in April, according to the DA’s office.
New was hired by Cobb Police in February 2005 and was assigned to Precinct 4 in East Cobb. He later served on the department’s DUI Task Force before returning to Precinct 4.
He was a police officer for a total of 27 years before his arrest, the DA’s office said.
Related:
- East Cobb man sentenced for shooting at neighbors, police
- Cobb Police capture suspect in Atlanta mass shooting
- Man sentenced to 15 years for stalking Indian Hills woman
- East Cobb investment adviser pleads guilty to Ponzi scheme
- Cobb ‘crawling burglar’ indicted on 25 counts
- Suspect in murders of Cobb Sheriff’s deputies gets 2 life terms
- East Cobb man sentenced for child sexual exploitation
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