Former Republican Party chair for Cobb County, Joseph Russell Dendy, has been indicted by a grand jury on 13 counts of child molestation.
After being arrested in May for allegedly molesting two boys, ages 4 and 12, during multiple visits to his home, the grand jury handed down multiple categories of charges. The 71-year-old formally faces four counts of child molestation, four counts of first-degree cruelty to children, three counts of enticing a child for indecent purposes, and one count each of aggravated sexual battery and aggravated child molestation, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
He is being held in the Cobb County jail without bond after a hearing where prosecutors alleged Dendy's molestation spanned 55 years.
Dendy and his wife taught Sunday School at their church for years and Mr. Dendy worked as a campaign manager for former State Rep. Roger Hines. Prior to the indictment, Hines called Dendy’s character “impeccable.”
