by Caleb Groves

[The Cobb County Courier has a policy of withholding or redacting the name of suspects unless and until the person is convicted in a court of law or enters a guilty plea. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty, and the internet has no effective way of removing reports of arrest if the person is exonerated. We do make exceptions in high-profile cases or charges against public officials where exoneration is likely to be as widely publicized as the initial arrest]

A 39-year-old Atlanta man charged with the rape of an 11-year-old girl was denied bond by a Magistrate Court Judge during a hearing on Thursday, March 7, 2024.

The man was arrested on January 31 and charged with the rape of the girl, who lived in an apartment complex in Vinings.

During the bond hearing, the man’s attorney, Larry Fouché, argued for a bond for his client.

Fouché said the man would return to focus on work if granted bond. Before his now more than 37 days in custody, he was a delivery driver during the day and on call for last-minute deliveries at night.

After the rape accusations, the victim, who lived with her mother in the apartment at the time, moved in with her father in Macon, Ga., who did not respond for input on the Atlanta man’s bond. Due to the distance between the Atlanta man and the victim, Fouché said that with set boundaries, setting a bond is suitable.

Magistrate Judge Jennifer Inmon denied bond due to the man’s criminal history in Bibb County, where he was convicted of two felonies, a misdemeanor, and put on probation. Alongside his criminal history, she said the severity of his rape charges concerned her.

Prior to the Atlanta man’s hearing, Judge Inmon pushed back the date of a Fairburn man’s probable cause hearing for illegal drug trafficking charges involving fentanyl to March 19, 2024.

Caleb Groves is a Journalism student at Kennesaw State University, where he is a junior.

Originally from Minnesota, Caleb moved to Georgia with his family, where he now lives in Woodstock with his Father, Stepmom and numerous pets.

When he is not in writing, in class or coaching rock climbing, he spends his time listening to music and rock climbing both indoors and out