Randy Pike, former CEO of his family's chain of metro Atlanta nurseries, has been charged with eight counts of sexual battery after allegedly groping several women at a beauty contest photo shoot and party in Dalton over the weekend.

Pike, who is no longer affiliated with Pike Family Nurseries, was in Dalton to judge last Saturday night's "Resaca Beach Calendar Girl Contest." That was the contest won in 1983 by Marla Maples, who later married Donald Trump.

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Randy Pike in a 2004 photo.

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The 49-year-old Pike is accused of trying to pull the bathing suit bottoms off three women, grabbing the buttocks of three others and hugging a seventh in a "sexual manner" at various locations in Dalton, according to a Whitfield County sheriff's report. Another accuser said Pike told her she could perform an oral sex act on him because he was a judge in the beauty contest.

Deputies arrested Pike late Saturday night at his hotel room in Dalton. Released from jail after posting a $20,000 bond, Pike could not be reached for comment by telephone or at his Alpharetta home Wednesday.

Some of the charges stemmed from the party and photo shoot Saturday afternoon in the Dug Gap Road home of Dalton carpet pioneer Zack Norville, father of television personality Deborah Norville.

"He actually came up behind me during a photo shoot and grabbed my chest," said Ashley Faulkner, 21, a bartender from Ringgold. "It was pretty ridiculous."

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution usually does not identify the victims of sex crimes but decided to do so after Faulkner said the newspaper could use her name.

Faulkner said she witnessed Pike drinking alcohol and pulling another woman's bathing suit bottom down. "He went from liquor to beer to wine," Faulkner said.

Another alleged victim, who asked to not be identified, has hired an attorney, Jerry Tidwell. Tidwell said he is investigating whether anyone tried to stop Pike on Saturday afternoon.

"It sounds like this conduct occurred over a period of time, and no one intervened to kind of suggest maybe he needs to go home or go sleep it off because I understand he was quite intoxicated," Tidwell said.

Other incidents between Pike and the beauty contestants occurred elsewhere around Dalton.

Dan Bowen, who identified himself as the director of the beauty contest, said in an e-mail Wednesday that he did not witness Pike's alleged behavior.

"When I found out that there had been a problem with Mr. Pike's behavior... I removed him from the list of judges," Bowen said. "He was never physically at the contest or the place where it was held."

Zack Norville also said he did not witness any of Pike's alleged crimes.

The man, however, appeared "under the influence of something" and was a "constant pest" that day, Norville said. "I never met the guy before, don't know why he was here except I found out he was invited as a judge."

Pike's uncontested divorce was finalized in February, according to DeKalb County court records.

His father, William "Pete" Pike, opened his first nursery 50 years ago on Cobb Parkway. The family sold its majority stake in April 2004, though Randy Pike remained as chief executive officer. He eventually left the company.

The nursery chain filed for bankruptcy last November and was auctioned for $7.9 million in February. Its 16 remaining stores are now owned by Glendora, Calif.-based Armstrong Garden Centers.

—Staff writer Mike Morris contributed to this article.