Q: In a recent AJC article, Cobb County assistant DA Dave Williamson was quoted, “If the defendant is ever released, he will be an old man and hopefully deported from the U.S.” The article did not provide information on why he would be deported. Is he in the United States illegally?
—Sharon Kittrell, Flowery Branch
A: Ivan Cruz is a native of Mexico and is thought to be in the United States illegally, a spokeswoman with the Cobb County District Attorney's office told the AJC in an email.
Cruz, 39, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Jan. 11 after he pleaded guilty to 12 charges, including three counts of aggravated child molestation, five counts of child molestation, two counts of solicitation of sodomy of a child under age 18, and one count each of aggravated sexual battery and sexual exploitation of children.
“He admitted he had repeatedly assaulted the girl in his residence off of Six Flags Drive beginning when she was just 11 years old,” the DA’s office wrote in an email.
Q: What happened to Rachel Stockman, the night reporter at WSB-TV? They said good-bye to her on air, but nothing was said why she was leaving or where she was going.
—Patty Hill, Woodstock
A: Stockman, who had been with Channel 2 Action News since July 2012, left the station to be a senior editor at LawNewz.com, according to her Facebook and Twitter accounts.
LawNewz.com is a new venture from Abrams Media, run by ABC chief legal affairs anchor Dan Abrams.
Stockman’s last day at WSB-TV was Dec. 28.
Andy Johnston with Fast Copy News Service wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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