A longtime police officer will spend six years in prison for assaulting a mentally disabled woman, the Cobb County district attorney said Tuesday.
Robert Lanier New, 51, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and cruelty to children in the first degree. After serving his prison time, New will spend 14 years on probation, the DA’s office said. He was sentenced as a first offender.
On June 18, 2018, a good Samaritan reported to Cobb police that a woman with cognitive disabilities had been choked and assaulted by a male partner during intercourse, according to investigators. At the time, New was employed by the department.
According to an arrest warrant, New choked the 44-year-old woman — who has the mental capacity of a 10- to 14-year-old — and slapped both sides of her face during sex to the point she cried. The woman told officers that because of New’s hands around her throat, she wasn’t able to tell him to stop, the warrant stated.
The incident happened sometime in March 2018 at New’s home on Hawkins Store Road in Kennesaw, according to police. New and the woman met on a dating app, investigators learned while interviewing her.
“It was also determined during the victim’s interview that New had attempted to have the victim bring her juvenile niece and involve her in their sexual activity,” the DA’s office said. “This was later confirmed during a forensic analysis of New’s phone. After interviewing New, police arrested him.”
In addition to being employed by Cobb police, New previously served with other departments in the area.
He was employed by the Emerson Police Department from September 1998 to February 1999, when he left to work for Acworth police. New worked there until November 2000, when he returned to Emerson police. He was promoted to police chief three weeks after his return.
New resigned in 2004 to work as a government contractor before he joined Cobb police in February 2005.
Prior to his plea, New was released on $38,700 bond, court records show. He was returned to the Cobb jail Monday, according to booking records.
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