Former GOP chief in Georgia indicted on 13 counts of child molestation for 55 years of abuse

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.”