[This story has been updated to reflect more information as it became available.]
From staff reports
Effingham County Commissioner Reggie Loper was indicted Monday on one count of sexual battery against a child under 16 and on another count of sexual battery against a second person, who is an adult.
An Effingham grand jury delivered the true bill of indictment Monday in Effingham County Superior Court.
The criminal case stems from when Loper was arrested May 17, 2023, on charges of child molestation and misdemeanor sexual battery. After the case was transferred to the Augusta Judicial Circuit for prosecution due to a conflict with Loper being an elected official in the Ogeechee Judicial Circuit, Augusta District Attorney Jared Williams presented the case to the grand jury.
Loper, 85, has served on the Effingham County Board of Commissioners for about 20 years and represents District 4. His current term lasts through December 2024 and he did not qualify for re-election. According to records, he last attended a county commission meeting on Feb. 20.
In outlining the sexual battery against a child charge, the indictment states the accused “between the 1st day of August 2017 and the 1st day of August 2020, the exact date of the offense being unknown, did intentionally make physical contact with the intimate parts of the body of another person – a child under the age of 16 years, without consent of said child, by placing hands on the breast and buttock of (the child) contrary to the laws of said State.”
The victim’s name is listed in the indictment, but the Herald will not publish her name.
In the second count, Loper’s indictment for sexual battery states the “accused between the 12th day of September 2014 and the 11th day of September 2015, the exact date of the offense being unknown, did intentionally make physical contact with the intimate parts of the body of (the person), without consent of the person, by placing hands of said accused on the buttock of (the person), contrary to the laws of said State.”
Again, the victim’s name is listed in the above indictment, but the Herald will not publish her name, either.
According to the Georgia penal code, the sexual battery against a child under 16 charge is a felony and punishable by a sentence of one to five years in prison, if convicted. Sexual battery is a misdemeanor of a “high and aggravated nature.” If convicted, it is punishable by “a fine not to exceed $5,000 or by confinement in the county or other jail, county correctional institution, or such other places as counties may provide for maintenance of county inmates, for a term not to exceed 12 months, or both.”
GBI investigation
A Georgia Bureau of Investigation news release last May 17 stated that the agency had arrested Loper, who is from Springfield, on a charge of child molestation, which is a felony charge, and a charge of misdemeanor sexual battery. He was booked into the Effingham County Jail, but posted bond and was released that same day.
A teenager had alleged that Loper sexually assaulted her multiple times over a five-year period that began when she was 12 years old and continued until around August 2022, Savannah TV station WTOC reported last year.
The GBI had launched its investigation into allegations regarding Loper after a Jan. 9, 2023 request by Effingham County Sheriff Jimmy McDuffie, who recused himself from the case.
The investigation reportedly grew out of a civil proceeding in which a woman petitioned under the Family Violence Act for a protective order against Loper on behalf of her minor child.
Chief Judge F. Gates Peed of the Ogeechee Judicial Circuit issued a Jan. 5, 2023, temporary order that Loper had to stay away from the alleged victim and her residence, workplace or school and not be within 500 yards of her. The protective order also prohibited any direct or indirect contact between him and the alleged victim and required that any firearms to which Loper had access be held by the Sheriff’s Office for safekeeping.
However, the temporary protective order in the civil proceeding was dismissed on Feb. 24, 2023.
Presenting the case
District Attorney Daphne Totten of the Ogeechee Judicial Circuit said she recused herself and her office from prosecuting the case soon after Loper was arrested by the GBI on May 17, 2023. The case was then reassigned to the Augusta Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office.
The Ogeechee Circuit also includes Bulloch, Jenkins and Screven counties. The D.A.’s office receives a portion of its funding from the county governments.
The case “involves another elected official that our office has contact with,” Totten said. “That was the nature of our conflict.”
Augusta Circuit DA Williams presented the case, which included testimony from GBI agent Justin Jones, to a grand jury in the Ogeechee Circuit, and specifically in Effingham County Superior Court.
There was no answer to a call Tuesday to Loper’s phone number listed on the Effingham County Board of Commissioners website. Also, an email to his county-listed address requesting comment or the name and number of his defense attorney was not answered.
