Video, GPS tie South Fulton officer to sexual assault, officials say

A South Fulton police officer admitted to a sexual encounter with an arrestee while on duty after video footage and other evidence implicated him, an arrest warrant reveals.

The patrol officer, Micheal Shealey Cockran, is now facing charges of improper sexual contact by an employee and violation of oath by a public officer, jail records show. Cockran, 30, was arrested Wednesday and has since been terminated from the department.

Cockran was interviewed by police Tuesday and initially “denied any sexual misconduct” but after “being confronted with video footage, Cockran admitted that (the woman) initiated the conversation about being intimate,” authorities wrote in the warrant. Cockran described the incident as “voluntary,” according to the warrant, and confirmed receiving oral sex but that the woman “pulled her pants down herself.”

Interim Public Safety Director Cedric Alexander, who described the incident as “an unfortunate and sad event,” said consent didn’t matter in this case.

“You were in performance of your law enforcement duties. So whether she consented or not is totally immaterial. The fact of the matter is that he violated Georgia State law as a law enforcement officer being in that supervisor role responsible for her care,” Alexander said during a news conference.

Peace Officer Standards and Training Council records reveal Cockran’s law enforcement certification has been “surrendered.” He started working with South Fulton police in September 2024 and it’s his only law enforcement experience in Georgia, POST records show.

The incident happened Saturday after Cockran responded to a gas station on Spence Road following a 911 call around 1:50 a.m. An arrest warrant states Cockran found a woman in a vehicle who matched the description of that call.

The woman was then discovered to have an active warrant out of DeKalb County, so officials said Cockran placed her under arrest to take to the DeKalb jail.

Cockran’s arrest warrant states that while the woman was at the DeKalb jail, she reported to detention staff that she had been sexually assaulted during her transport to the jail. She was then taken to Grady Memorial Hospital for a sexual assault forensic examination.

A supervising officer with South Fulton police responded to Grady and spoke with the woman. According to the warrant, the woman said Cockran drove to a location instead of taking her directly to the jail. The woman reported being “forced” to “perform sexual acts,” the warrant says.

Alexander said evidence in the case is “enormous.”

That evidence came about when investigators discovered Cockran’s body camera footage was not recording during what officials called a “critical portion” of the drive, specifically from the time he left the gas station with the woman to when he left an area near Harris Road in Fairburn.