Former Cobb GOP leader pleads guilty to child molestation, gets life sentence
Former Cobb County Republican Party leader
Joseph Dendy was given a life sentence after pleading guilty Friday to sexually
abusing children.
Dendy, 72, must serve 30 years of that
sentence in prison.
Dendy admitted that he had committed repeated sexual offenses against two boys, according
to a statement from Cobb District Attorney Vic Reynolds. The crimes occurred
between 2004 and 2011 at Dendy’s home, his church, and in a store dressing room,
the statement said.
One victim, now an adult, told the court that
he has nightmares of the abuse and became a military police officer to help
other victims.
“I’m stronger than you,” he told Dendy.
Dendy served four years as chair of the Cobb County
GOP. His second, two-year term ended in 2015.
The defendant’s guilty plea came as a
surprise during what was to be a pretrial hearing. Prosecutors were expected to
call several additional witnesses who said they had also been abused.
“Hiding behind his public persona as a prominent
community leader, this defendant was able to wear a path of destruction through
his family for decades,” prosecutor Susan Treadaway was quoted saying in the
statement. “That ends today.”
Cobb Superior Court Judge Kimberly Childs presided
over the case.
Dendy’s attorney, Brian Steel, did not return a
message left at his office.
Former Cobb GOP chair Joe Dendy pleads guilty, gets 30 years
Dendy, 72, will spend the first 30 years of his sentence in prison and the rest on probation.
Criminal Case Number: 16902483
STATE v DENDY JOSEPH RUSSELL
Judge: CHILDS
Case Type: INDICTMENT
Filing Date: 08/05/2016
Prosecutor: TREADAWAY,SUSAN
Defendants
Pleadings
Hearings
Attorneys
Offenses
Appeals
Bond Information
Sentences
Hearing #
Defendant #
Judge
Hearing Date/Time
Type
Action
1
1
GRUBBS
09/29/2016 08:30AM
ARRAIGNMENT
NOTICE PRINTED
2
1
GRUBBS
11/03/2016 01:30PM
MOTIONS
3
1
GRUBBS
11/10/2016 09:00AM
JURY TRIAL CALL
NOTICE PRINTED
4
1
GRUBBS
11/14/2016 09:00AM
JURY
NOTICE PRINTED
5
1
GRUBBS
12/01/2016 09:00AM
JURY TRIAL CALL
NOTICE PRINTED
6
1
GRUBBS
12/02/2016 01:30PM
MOTIONS
7
1
GRUBBS
12/05/2016 09:00AM
JURY
NOTICE PRINTED
8
1
CHILDS
01/04/2017 01:30PM
MOTIONS
9
1
CHILDS
01/05/2017 09:00AM
JURY TRIAL CALL
NOTICE PRINTED
10
1
CHILDS
01/09/2017 09:00AM
JURY
NOTICE PRINTED
11
1
CHILDS
01/25/2017 09:00AM
JURY TRIAL CALL
NOTICE PRINTED
12
1
CHILDS
01/26/2017 09:00AM
MOTIONS
13
1
CHILDS
02/06/2017 09:00AM
JURY
NOTICE PRINTED
14
1
CHILDS
02/13/2017 09:00AM
JURY
NOTICE PRINTED
15
1
CHILDS
02/27/2017 09:00AM
JURY TRIAL CALL
NOTICE PRINTED
16
1
CHILDS
03/06/2017 09:00AM
JURY
NOTICE PRINTED
17
1
CHILDS
03/13/2017 09:00AM
JURY
NOTICE PRINTED
18
1
CHILDS
04/13/2017 09:00AM
MOTIONS
19
1
CHILDS
05/08/2017 09:00AM
JURY
NOTICE PRINTED
20
1
CHILDS
03/30/2017 09:00AM
JURY TRIAL CALL
NOTICE PRINTED
21
1
CHILDS
04/17/2017 09:00AM
JURY
NOTICE PRINTED
22
1
CHILDS
05/01/2017 09:00AM
JURY TRIAL CALL
NOTICE PRINTED
23
1
CHILDS
05/15/2017 09:00AM
JURY
NOTICE PRINTED
24
1
CHILDS
03/03/2017 09:00AM
MOTIONS
25
1
CHILDS
06/16/2017 09:00AM
MOTIONS
26
1
CHILDS
06/05/2017 09:00AM
JURY TRIAL CALL
NOTICE PRINTED
27
1
CHILDS
06/12/2017 09:00AM
JURY
NOTICE PRINTED
28
1
CHILDS
06/19/2017 09:00AM
JURY
NOTICE PRINTED
29
1
CHILDS
06/28/2017 09:00AM
JURY TRIAL CALL
Former Cobb GOP chair Joe Dendy returning to court today
Jon Gargis MDJ 6/16/17
Editor’s Note: It is the policy of the Marietta Daily Journal to protect the identities of victims of sexual abuse. The MDJ will not report certain information shared in open court that could reveal the victims’ identities.
The attorney for former Cobb County Republican Party chairman Joe Dendy, who faces charges that he molested two children, is set to argue today that most of the charges against his client be dropped. Cobb prosecutors, however, are seeking to introduce evidence that Dendy committed a number of similar acts against six other alleged victims, potentially over the span of nearly seven decades.
Dendy faces charges in Cobb that he allegedly molested two young boys in separate incidents as far back as late 2004. Arrested at his west Cobb home in May 2016, the 72-year-old was indicted in August on 13 charges: four counts of child molestation, three counts of enticing a child for indecent purposes, four counts of cruelty to children in the first degree and one count each of aggravated sexual battery and aggravated child molestation.
Dendy’s attorney, Brian Steel of the Atlanta-based Steel Law Firm, is seeking for 10 of the 13 charges, all of which involve the older of the two boys, to be tossed. Those charges allege that the earliest incident occurred sometime in late 2004 to late 2006 and saw Dendy take the older boy into a Cobb department store in order to commit a sexual act.
Other incidents of alleged child molestation related to the charges in question occurred sometime between December 2007 and December 2009 at Dendy’s west Cobb home and inside a closet at Burnt Hickory Baptist Church in Powder Springs, where Dendy and his wife, Billie Dendy, have been members since 1974, according to Billie Dendy’s testimony at her husband’s bond hearing last year. The boy was around 13 years old at the time of those incidents, according to the warrant filed regarding the incident.
Steel is seeking to quash the charges, or have them declared invalid, during today’s motions hearing in front of Superior Court Judge Kimberly Childs.
“If you look at the indictment for those counts, there’s a tremendous date range. An indictment is supposed to be specific,” Steel said.
Steel’s motion, if approved, would still leave in place the charges that accuse Dendy of molesting a 4-year-old boy in late December 2011, with the older boy named witnessing the incident, according to a warrant in the case.
But the Cobb District Attorney’s office is set to argue a separate motion that if approved would allow prosecutors to introduce evidence they say shows that Dendy committed acts of child molestation and similar criminal acts against six other children, two of whom were allegedly victimized between 1958 and 1960. That would potentially put the earliest incident back when Dendy was 12 or 13 years old.
The incidents involving those two children are alleged to have taken place in Laurens, South Carolina, as were alleged crimes against a third child between 1975 and 1980 and a fourth in early June of 2015. Prosecutors also accuse Dendy of victimizing two other children in Cobb County, one sometime between 1975 and 1980 and the other between late 2014 to mid-2016.
Today’s hearing, scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. in Childs’ courtroom, is expected to last most of the day, according to Kim Isaza, spokesperson for the Cobb district attorney’s office.
She added that prosecutors are unable to comment on the pending case.
Barring any delays ordered by the court, Dendy’s trial is set to begin July 10.
---------------------------------------------------
6/9/17
Trial is set for July 10, 2017. This motion is to get evidentiary items taken care of:
4/14/17
FILED MARCH 30, 2017
Consent Order to Continue Due Date for Filing Motions
Additional documents are on hand from out of state Police* which the State wants to include in the 'other act' portion of the case.
Dendy is known to have pedophile problems in South Carolina and Michigan that go back many years. Hopefully the trial will take place as scheduled this July.
* Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office in Michigan, as well as the Laurens Police Department in South Carolina on additional sexual abuse allegations.
-----------------------------------------------------
2/27/17
1/28/17
Prosecutors: Dendy’s wife sent money to Cobb jail inmate
Jon Gargis MDJ 1/28/17
MARIETTA — Though it was her husband seeking to be granted bond, it was Billie Dendy’s decision to send money to another prisoner in the Cobb County Adult Detention Center that landed her in the hot seat across from prosecutors Thursday.
(Photo: Joe Dendy's wife)
Joe Dendy, 71, was arrested at his west Cobb home in May on charges that he molested two boys in separate incidents. Though he was denied bond in June, his current attorney, Brian Steel of the Atlanta-based Steel Law Firm, had sought to have Superior Court Judge Kimberly Childs reconsider the previous denial. Childs ultimately denied the motion after a nearly three-hour hearing Thursday that ended just about 7:15 p.m.
Steel had officially signed onto Dendy’s case on Dec. 20, more than two months after the county’s circuit defender office assigned Marietta attorney Reid Thompson to Dendy’s case; William McKenney of Atlanta-based McKenney & Froelich had represented Dendy at his June bond hearing but was not retained following that court proceeding.
But Billie Dendy was questioned over two payments she made to one of her husband’s fellow inmates at the Cobb jail, with at least one being sent days after Steel was retained in the case. It was revealed in the hearing that she had sent through an internet deposit system a total of $165 via two payments to Victor Keith Seldon.
Seldon has been in Cobb’s jail for nearly 100 days to serve as a witness, according to jail records, though Georgia Department of Corrections records show he had been serving time at Wilcox State Prison in south Georgia on theft by deception charges out of DeKalb and Douglas counties. He had also previously served time on bad check charges out of Cobb.
Billie Dendy said one of the payments had been requested by her husband for Seldon to help decide “who to retain as a lawyer.”
“Mr. Seldon told my husband that he could write him motions to be presented to the court,” Billie Dendy said in her testimony. “My husband passed that onto me, and told me he wanted to do that and what the cost would be.”
Assistant District Attorney Susan Treadaway pressed on the wife as to why she would pay an inmate for a legal service after retaining an actual attorney.
“(Joe) just wanted (Seldon) to write a motion. He did not retain him as an attorney,” she replied. “Yes, it was paid, but it was not a legal service. He wrote a motion, but the motion was given to me. It was not presented to the court in any way.”
Cobb Superior Court records do not indicate that Seldon had prepared any filings in Dendy’s case. Steel and his law firm have made all filings in the case since taking it over last month.
ATTORNEYS IMPLY ONE ACCUSER WAS TOUCHED AT GOP FUNCTION
Attorneys in their questioning of Billie Dendy and three character witnesses who spoke on Joe Dendy’s behalf asked those on the stand about an alleged victim at a Republican Party function.
That individual is one of seven Treadaway said has accused Dendy of inappropriate contact; Dendy currently faces charges in Cobb regarding two of them.
His indictment alleges that the earliest incident occurred sometime in late 2004 to late 2006 and saw Dendy take one of the boys into a Cobb department store in order to commit a sexual act. Another alleged incident of child molestation involved the same boy at Dendy’s Creekview Court home sometime between December 2007 and December 2009. The boy was around 13 years old at the time, according to the warrant filed regarding the incident.
The boy was the focus of another child molestation charge involving an alleged sexual incident that occurred inside a closet at Burnt Hickory Baptist Church in Powder Springs, where Dendy and his wife have been members since 1974, according to Billie Dendy’s testimony at her husband’s bond hearing in June.
The second boy named in the indictment was 4 years old when he was allegedly molested in late December 2011, with the other boy named in the indictment witnessing the incident, according to a warrant in the case.
Dendy has also been charged in South Carolina with criminal sexual conduct with an 11-year-old girl in the first degree over an alleged June 2015 incident, according to a police report out of Laurens, South Carolina.
Several other allegations against Dendy have come out in court, though have not sparked additional criminal charges. At Dendy’s June bond hearing, a 65-year-old man, also from South Carolina, took the stand and said he had been molested by Dendy when he was between 8 and 10 years old — sometime in 1959 or 1960.
“What you have here is an individual who has, over the last 56 years, has had seven people come, since late 2015, come forward and say during that period of time, the last 56 years, has had inappropriate contact with them physically, and has reported that to law enforcement,” Treadaway said.
Treadaway’s mention of seven accusers was not enough to sway Pam and George Matthews, longtime friends and former coworkers of the Dendys.
“It doesn’t have any bearing at all. I know Joe Dendy, and he’s a man of good character,” Pam Matthews said. “His word has always meant a lot.”
Her husband confirmed to Treadaway that his friendship with Dendy also includes interactions through the Republican Party of Cobb County, but he told the prosecutor that he was not aware that one of the individuals who had come forward to law enforcement was a teenage boy who alleged that Dendy initiated inappropriate contact at a political event. But the man said neither that nor the total number of accusers would sway his opinion, saying that “without any hesitation” he would be willing to risk his wealth in order for Dendy to be granted bond.
The individual who had come in contact with Dendy was seemingly later referenced as Steel questioned Billie Dendy, implying that the incident occurred in 2015.
“That child went to the mother, and the mother said, ‘Just tell them it was no allegation of touching private parts — it was touching, rubbing on a thigh and shoulder?” asked Steel.
Billie Dendy responded, “Actually, I think he was poked on his thigh.”
Cobb District Attorney Vic Reynolds told the MDJ on Friday that prosecutors would likely seek to use that accuser’s testimony in their upcoming case, but did not go into detail on the alleged victim.
“As we stated in open court, we anticipate filing a motion to introduce what’s called ‘other acts’ evidence. Those, on occasion, may be acts that are not singled out in an indictment, but acts we believe are relevant to the particular charges,” Reynolds said.
It was not made apparent in court whether the alleged incident had occurred at a Cobb County Republican Party function or during the time Joe Dendy led the local party 2011 to 2015. In November, an effort was made within the Cobb County Republican Committee to oust the former party leader, who sits on the committee by virtue of being past chairman, but the move was voted down. His wife also has party ties, as she serves as treasurer of the Georgia Federation of Republican Women, according to that organization’s website.
Also testifying on Dendy’s behalf was Roger Hines, a retired high school English teacher and state legislator. Hines had also testified at Dendy’s June bond hearing, saying he had known Dendy for 21 years, first meeting him at Burnt Hickory Baptist but later interacted with him at political meetings. Dendy went on to serve as Hines’ campaign manager in two races.
In a response to Treadaway, Hines said he was not aware that one of the incidents was alleged to have occurred at the church. Treadaway said Dendy had private access to the facility after hours due to his position in the church.
But Hines said neither that accusation nor any of the charges changed his opinion of the man.
“I know him too well, I’ve known him for too long,” he said.
Steel asked those in the courtroom gallery who would have testified in favor of Dendy being granted bond to stand. About 12 in attendance did so, including the Matthewses and Hines, with some of those who stood later referred to as some of Dendy’s family.
But the testimony and the nonverbal message from others did not factor into Childs’ decision, as her ruling effectively left in place her predecessor’s early June decision to not grant Dendy bond. Childs took over the case this month after Superior Court Judge Adele Grubbs retired in December.
Childs will continue to preside over the case, which on Thursday was given a scheduled trial start of Monday, May 8, with that week and the next full week of court reserved to allow for enough time for the case to be heard.
A motions hearing was also set for 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 13.
=====================================
Former Cobb GOP chair denied bond again
MDJ 1/27/17 Jon Gargis
Joe Dendy looks back toward the court gallery after walking into Cobb Superior Court Judge Kimberly Childs’ courtroom for a motions hearing Thursday afternoon. Attorney Brian Steel, left, argued Dendy’s bond should be reconsidered, but Childs left the bond denial in place.
MARIETTA — Despite an effort to have his bond denial reconsidered, the former Cobb County Republican Party chairman facing charges that he molested children will remain in jail until his scheduled court date this May.
Joe Dendy faces charges that he allegedly molested two young boys in separate incidents potentially spanning as far back as late
2004. Arrested at his west Cobb home in May, the 71-year-old was indicted in August on 13 charges: four counts of child molestation, three counts of enticing a child for indecent purposes, four counts of cruelty to children in the first degree and one count each of aggravated sexual battery and aggravated child molestation.
Last month, his attorney, Brian Steel of the Atlanta-based Steel Law Firm, filed a motion to have Superior Court Judge Kimberly Childs reconsider the previous denial of a pretrial bond. Childs denied the motion after a nearly three-hour hearing Thursday that ended just about 7:15 p.m.
Though Dendy had been in a wheelchair at his September arraignment, he walked into the courtroom under his own power Thursday afternoon. Steel said his client had been “languishing and rotting in the Cobb County Jail” since his arrest on May 20 of last year and was suffering from glaucoma, high blood pressure and in need of a knee replacement.
“We just want him out so he can properly eat, properly sleep as best he can, and be ready, focused, because we are having a trial before this honorable court,” Steel said, requesting that a bond be set and suggested bond restrictions such as having Dendy placed under house arrest, wear an ankle monitor and have no contact with witnesses in the case or any minors.
When Childs asked how the court would find out whether a child or minor visits Dendy’s home, Steel responded that the judge could issue an order to be followed by the public, or barring such an action, set up a video surveillance system outside the home to show anyone walking in or out, claiming that such a system would be “very cheap to put in.”
“Is somebody going to smuggle a child in, like, a bag, a duffel bag? No child’s coming in. That’s what you do,” Steel said. “You could have neighbors, alert the neighbors, that they can’t have any children there.”
Steel argued that Dendy was not a flight risk, putting Dendy’s wife of 44 years, Billie, and three character witnesses on the stand who testified they believe he would abide by any and all restrictions placed by the court.
But Assistant District Attorney Susan Treadaway said the potential punishment of just one of the charges against Dendy would be enough to push him, or any defendant, toward an escape attempt.
“The severity of the charges in this case — two life sentences plus 250 years — and at the age of 71 or 72 years, regardless of whether or not this defendant is convicted on all of those crimes, one of those crimes or even a lesser included charge, it is a death sentence for this defendant,” Treadaway said. “And I can think of no greater reason why a person would not want to answer for those charges when they know it is a guarantee that if they are convicted of a single count of this indictment, that they will die in prison.”
Childs ultimately rejected Steel’s proposed bond conditions, adding she believed Dendy remained a flight risk for several reasons, including the possible financial resources at his disposal.
“The bond conditions would essentially have me make Mr. Dendy’s home an annex of the jail, because to have control over all of those conditions, that’s essentially what happens at the jail,” Childs said. “The conditions you have offered, I don’t think are anything that would be reasonable to do in this situation.”
Childs’ denial essentially left in place Superior Court Judge Adele Grubbs’ early June decision to not grant Dendy bond. Barring any unforeseen changes, he could face a jury this spring — nearly one year to the day he was arrested.
Attorneys on both sides of the case estimated that Dendy’s case would take no less than seven days of court time, and agreed with Childs on a scheduled trial start of Monday, May 8, with that week and the next full week of court reserved to allow for enough time for the case to be heard.
A motions hearing ahead of the trial’s start was also set for 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 13.
===========================================
1/19/17
Dendy trial is now set for Feb. 6, 2017. No guarantee that this will be the date as it may be continued again, and again, and again.
1/5/17
Additional Documents in this case:
Hearing on former Cobb GOP Chairman Joe Dendy case pushed to Jan. 26
Jon Gargis MDJ 1/5/17
MARIETTA — A Cobb judge on Wednesday delayed the trial of former Cobb County Republican Party Chairman Joe Dendy, who faces charges that he allegedly molested two young boys in separate incidents potentially spanning as far back as late 2004.
His attorney, Brian Steel of the Atlanta-based Steel Law Firm, had filed several motions last month after officially signing onto the case Dec. 20, including one that sought to have Superior Court Judge Kimberly Childs reconsider the previous denial of a pretrial bond.
In his motion, Steel argued that a bond could be fashioned to permit Dendy, alleged to be in ill health, from not being punished ahead of his trial but to meet all objectives of the pretrial bond that had been set.
The 72-year-old Dendy was in a wheelchair for his September arraignment in front of Superior Court Judge Adele Grubbs, who previously presided over the case but retired at the end of last year. Grubbs in June denied Dendy bond, saying she believed he was at “significant risk of committing another felony” and could potentially intimidate witnesses in the case.
Though the case had been scheduled to start next week, Childs continued the case until Jan. 26. The motions hearing to be held at 1:30 p.m. that day could see attorneys argue the motion to reconsider bond, as well as several other motions filed on behalf of Dendy, such as requests to have prosecutors reveal any agreements with witnesses in return for their testimony in the case and to extend the time to file additional motions in the case, among other requests.
Neither Steel nor the prosecutor heading the case, Assistant District Attorney Susan Treadaway, were present for Wednesday’s motions hearing, though Dendy’s previous lawyer, Marietta attorney Reid Thompson, was there to inform Childs that he had been replaced by Steel.
Dendy also was not present at Wednesday’s hearing. He remains in the Cobb jail after being denied bond by Grubbs back in June.
Arrested at his west Cobb home in May, he was indicted in August on 13 charges: four counts of child molestation, three counts of enticing a child for indecent purposes, four counts of cruelty to children in the first degree and one count each of aggravated sexual battery and aggravated child molestation.
--------------------------------------------------
1/4/17
Former Cobb GOP chairman’s trial may be pushed
Jon Gargis MDJ 1/4/17
The scheduled start date of the trial of former Cobb County Republican Party Chairman Joe Dendy, facing charges that he molested two young boys, is expected to be moved again just days after Dendy signing a new attorney onto his case.
The 72-year-old Dendy was arrested at his west Cobb home in May on charges that he molested two boys in separate incidents. He was indicted in August on 13 charges: four counts of child molestation, three counts of enticing a child for indecent purposes, four counts of cruelty to children in the first degree and one count each of aggravated sexual battery and aggravated child molestation.
At a motions hearing for Dendy’s case scheduled for Cobb Superior Court this afternoon, the Cobb District Attorney’s office is expecting an announcement regarding Dendy’s defense counsel, which will likely cause the case to be continued to a future date, said Kim Isaza, spokesperson for the DA’s office. The case had been scheduled for the trial week starting Monday, Jan. 9.
Court records show that attorney Brian Steel of the Atlanta-based Steel Law Firm officially signed onto Dendy’s case on Dec. 20.
Among the filings Steel has made on Dendy’s behalf since that time is a motion to reconsider the previous denial of a pretrial bond. In his motion, Steel argues that a bond could be fashioned to permit Dendy — who is in “ill health,” according to the filing — from not being punished ahead of his trial but to meet all objectives of the pretrial bond that had been set.
Superior Court Judge Adele Grubbs had denied Dendy bond in June, saying she believed he was at “significant risk of committing another felony” and could potentially intimidate witnesses in the case.
She rejected arguments from Dendy’s then-attorney, William McKenney of Atlanta-based McKenney & Froelich, who said Dendy was well-respected in the community, a Vietnam veteran and was not a flight risk. McKenney sought to have Dendy released on a $10,000 bond, arguing that former Kennesaw Councilman Leonard Church, who also had been charged with child molestation, had been granted such a bond in 2014.
Church, who had been accused of molesting a 9-year-old boy at his Kennesaw home in 2014 and having hundreds of images of child pornography on computers he owned, pleaded guilty late last year to two counts of child molestation and four counts of sexual exploitation of children. He was given a 40-year sentence, 18 of which will be served in prison.
Other motions that have been filed by Steel seek to inspect and test physical evidence in the case, have prosecutors reveal any agreements with witnesses in return for their testimony in the case and to extend the time to file additional motions in the case, among other requests. It is unclear whether these motions will be ruled on at today’s hearing.
NEW ATTORNEY, NEW JUDGE
Steel is the third attorney to take on Dendy’s case. The first (McKenney) told Grubbs during Dendy’s September arraignment hearing that he had not been retained in the case.
The county’s circuit defender office assigned Marietta attorney Reid Thompson to Dendy’s case in October. On Tuesday, Thompson told the MDJ that he was off Dendy’s case and that a filing had been made to officially remove him from future proceedings.
“I will be poking my head in the courtroom just to make sure the judge got the substitution motion, but I don’t expect anything to happen,” Thompson said regarding today’s hearing.
In addition to a new attorney, a new judge will also be involved in the case after Grubbs retired last month. Taking over the case is Superior Court Judge Kimberly Childs, who was elected to the bench in May.
The indictment against Dendy alleges that the earliest incident occurred sometime in late 2004 to late 2006 and saw Dendy take one of the boys into a Cobb department store in order to commit a sexual act.
Another alleged incident of child molestation involved the same boy at Dendy’s Creekview Court home sometime between December 2007 and December 2009. The boy was around 13 years old at the time, according to the warrant filed regarding the incident.
The boy was the focus of another child molestation charge involving an alleged sexual incident that occurred inside a closet at Burnt Hickory Baptist Church in Powder Springs, where Dendy and his wife, Billie Dendy, have been members since 1974, according to Billie Dendy’s testimony at her husband’s bond hearing in June.
The second boy named in the indictment was 4 years old when he was allegedly molested in late December 2011, with the other boy named in the indictment witnessing the incident, according to a warrant in the case.
Dendy led the Cobb County Republican Party from 2011 to 2015. He remains in the Cobb jail after being denied bond by Grubbs in June.
-------------------------------------------------------
Pedophile Joseph Dendy wants to be out on Bond!
The motion was filed 12/28/16. His Case set for Trial 1/9/17.
===========================
12/30/16
DENDY NOW 'OFFICIALLY' IS INDIGENT
Although being represented by Marietta lawyer Thomas Reid Thompson since 10/4/16, Pedophile Joseph Dendy is now officially found to be Indigent and Cobb County will be paying for his representation in 2 Counts each of Child Molestation and Aggravated Sexual Battery.
The Certificate of Indigency was signed and filed 12/20/16.
=========================================
YEAR IN REVIEW #5: Former Cobb GOP Chairman Joe Dendy charged with child molestation
Editor's Note: The MDJ is counting down the top local stories of 2016 as voted on by newspaper employees. The series this week leads to the Daily Journal’s special review of the last year and a look ahead for 2017 in the Jan. 1 edition.
MARIETTA — The arrest of former Cobb Republican Party Chair Joe Dendy in May on charges that he molested two boys in separate incidents in his home occurring as far back as 2007 would have been headline news even if 2016 had not been a presidential election year.
However, because politics was big news in 2016, Dendy’s arrest garnered even more attention.
Dendy was arrested at his west Cobb home then booked into the county jail on May 20. After his arrest, local police learned that Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the Laurens Police Department in Laurens, South Carolina, both had arrest warrants alleging sexual abuse charges against Dendy, said Sgt. Dana Pierce with Cobb police.
In Cobb, Dendy faced charges of child molestation and aggravated child molestation, both felonies, resulting from two incidents that police say occurred at his west Cobb home. According to the arrest warrants, in 2011, Dendy inappropriately touched a 4-year-old boy who was sitting in his lap. The boy disclosed the details of the incident in a forensic interview, with a now-20-year-old witness supporting the boy’s story. The other charge alleges that in 2007 or 2008, Dendy performed sex acts on a boy, who was 12 or 13 at the time.
In August, Dendy was indicted on 13 charges, including four counts of cruelty to children in the first degree and one count each of aggravated sexual battery and aggravated child molestation.
According to the indictment, the earliest incident occurred sometime in late 2004 to late 2006, when Dendy allegedly took one of the boys into a Cobb department store in order to commit a sexual act.
A not guilty plea was entered on Dendy’s behalf at an arraignment in September.
Dendy’s case was slated to come up in Cobb County Superior Court earlier in December but the scheduled motions hearing was delayed to Jan. 4. The case could begin in the trial week starting Jan. 9.
Dendy was elected Cobb GOP chair in 2011. He served two consecutive two-year terms then stepped down in 2015 due to term limit restrictions. After stepping down as Cobb Republican Party chair, Dendy continued his political work as the state director of party development.
In November, the Cobb County Republican Committee debated whether to boot Dendy out of the organization, which he is still a member of by virtue of being past chairman. The organization decided to wait until after Dendy’s trial before taking action on the matter.
MY COMMENT: The Cobb County Repubican Committee is a spineless bunch of morons and none of them should represent the party and I have told them that and you can also:
Contact the Cobb County Republican Committee members via:
chair@cobbgop.org,
cobbgop@gmail.com,
1vc@cobbgop.org,
2vc@cobbgop.org,
3vc@cobbgop.org,
secretary@cobbgop.org,
treasurer@cobbgop.org,
assistant.treasurer@cobbgop.org
MY COMMENT: The Cobb County Repubican Committee is a spineless bunch of morons and none of them should represent the party and I have told them that and you can also:
Contact the Cobb County Republican Committee members via:
chair@cobbgop.org,
cobbgop@gmail.com,
1vc@cobbgop.org,
2vc@cobbgop.org,
3vc@cobbgop.org,
secretary@cobbgop.org,
treasurer@cobbgop.org,
assistant.treasurer@cobbgop.org
============================
12/19/16
It is unlikely that this will actually result in a trial 1/9/17. It is an 'unwinable' case for Dendy. Probably he will agree to several 18 year terms to run concurrently. That would be an effective Life Sentence for someone of his age. Probably he will end up in Long State Prison serving time with Leonard Church, our former Kennesaw Mayor and Councilman. They will both get out about the same time: when they are dead!
12/9/16
COBB COUNTY PEDOPHILE JOSEPH DENDY
Recent Court Activity:
Case set for Motions 1/4/17
Case set for Trial Calander Call 1/5/17
Case set for Trial 1/9/17
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12/2/16
ABSOLUTELY UNBELIEVEABLE!
(see MDJ article below!)
Cobb County Republican Party Leadership sticks up for a Pedophile! This group of mis-fits* are all hereby nominated by me for the “Assholes of The Year Awards”.
(* Justin Tomczak, Rose Wing, Donna Rowe)
We don’t need FOOLS running the Cobb County Republicans, they should all be replaced.
This puts me in mind of the circle jerk we had with the former Kennesaw mayor and Council, they couldn’t say a bad word about Pedophile Leonard Church* and let him sit on the City Council for over a year while awaiting trial, a trial that got him 4, 20 year sentences.
* http://leonardchurch.blogspot.com/
* http://leonardchurch.blogspot.com/
That former mayor and council members were all spineless morons and I guess it is catching as now the Cobb County Republicans have caught the wossy bug, that is where their spines turn to mush and they all run in circles saying how great Joe Dendy is and how they won’t bounce his ass out of the republican party.
Shame on all that bunch of assholes!
Photo: Rose Wing
Contact the Cobb County Republican Committee members via:chair@cobbgop.org,
cobbgop@gmail.com,
1vc@cobbgop.org,
2vc@cobbgop.org,
3vc@cobbgop.org,
secretary@cobbgop.org,
treasurer@cobbgop.org,
assistant.treasurer@cobbgop.org
==============================
FEATURED - GOP debate: Should ex-chair be kicked out of the party?
Dec 2, 2016, M D J
FIREWORKS ERUPTED this week when the Cobb County Republican Committee argued over whether former county GOP chairman Joe Dendy should be booted from the organization.
Dendy was arrested in May on charges that he molested two boys. He was indicted in August on 13 charges with a trial date scheduled for next month.
At Tuesday’s GOP Committee meeting in Marietta City Hall, attorney Jason Shepherd sought to form a subcommittee to decide whether Dendy’s membership should continue.
Dendy sits on the GOP committee by virtue of being past chairman and has voting rights, although he hasn’t exercised them since he’s been in jail, according to Cobb GOP Chair Rose Wing.
Shepherd said there is a two-step process to remove anyone from membership. First, someone has to cite evidence of wrongdoing. Next, a committee must be formed to investigate the allegation. Shepherd was trying to create such a committee Tuesday.
Dendy was arrested in May, but Shepherd said he didn’t believe it was the right time to move on the matter because of the upcoming election.
“But now the election’s over, and (Dendy’s) trial is about to start,” Shepherd said, adding that the GOP Committee could be prepared “so if he is unfortunately found guilty, we can have a strong statement … to say, ‘listen, we’ve expelled him from our organization. He’s no longer a part of us. He’ll never be a part of us again, and we strongly condemn through this action what he did.’”
Such a public statement coming from the party is important, Shepherd argues, because every media account of Dendy’s arrest references him being the former GOP chairman.
“And right now, the party is not on record as saying anything,” Shepherd said. “And the fact of the matter is if Joe Dendy is guilty, then some of these acts may have been occurring while he was party chair, and that puts the party in jeopardy, too. So I think, as any organization needs to do, is make a strong statement and say, ‘Listen, we don’t condone this. … we’re just as shocked as everyone else, and we have done the right thing to say that he will never be part of this organization again.’”
Wing said it was clear the Cobb County Republican Committee believed there was no need to look at removing Dendy until there had been a disposition in the case.
“Because there would be no other committee that would hear all the facts other than the judge and the jury,” she said. “And that has been my position, as you know, from the get go, from the day of the arrest. It is not for us to be making that decision. That is for a jury and/or judge … And you’re innocent until proven guilty.”
When Shepherd called for a vote on forming the committee to be created Tuesday, Cobb GOP 1st Vice Chair Justin Tomczak made a motion to “lay it on the table,” until the court rules on the matter. The Republican Committee adopted Tomczak’s motion and the meeting adjourned.
Yet Shepherd maintains under Robert’s Rules of Order, a motion “to lay it on the table” simply moves a topic from one part of the meeting to another. It does not postpone the matter to another meeting. Shepherd said he knew Tomczak was wrong, but when he attempted to bring this up in the meeting, he was shut down by parliamentarian Donna Rowe.
“The fact of the matter is, they want to continue to cover this up,” Shepherd said. “Every single one of them was recruited by Joe Dendy. The party leadership has basically stuck their head in the sand concerning someone who may very well have committed a very heinous act.”
Were Dendy found not guilty by the court, the GOP committee Shepherd sought to create could have recommended he remain a member of the Cobb GOP.
What needs to happen now is a change in party leadership, and the next time that can happen is at the county convention in March, Shepherd said. He said he’s considering running as he did last time, but hasn’t made a final decision.
Wing, a retired Cobb assistant district attorney, is also mulling whether to run for another term as Cobb GOP chair or for Georgia GOP chair.
As for the argument that it’s bad publicity for the Cobb GOP, Wing said Shepherd is the one that gave Dendy publicity at the meeting by raising the topic.
“We as the party have clearly said that we believe in the constitutional rights of all individuals,” Wing said. “It’s the Republican way, and one of the main constitutional rights that we have is that you’re innocent until proven guilty. It’s a basic conditional right that Mr. Shepherd appears to have forgotten.”
Former GOP chair’s case pushed to January ’17
Jon Gargis MDJ 12/2/16
The trial of the former Cobb County Republican Party chairman, who is facing charges that he molested two young boys, has been pushed to next year.
Joe Dendy, 72, was arrested at his west Cobb home in May on charges that he molested two boys in separate incidents. He was indicted in August on 13 charges: four counts of cruelty to children in the first degree and one count each of aggravated sexual battery and aggravated child molestation.
Dendy’s case was slated to come up in Cobb County Superior Court for the trial week beginning Monday, but the case is now set to pick back up in January.
“His attorney is having surgery, he’s complied with the rules, and it looks like the case will be continued,” Superior Court Judge Adele Grubbs told the MDJ Wednesday. Grubbs’ administrative assistant, Peggy Massey confirmed Thursday that the case was ordered continued, with a motions hearing set for Jan. 4. The case could begin in the trial week starting Jan. 9.
The delay in the case means it will be presided over by a new judge, as Grubbs is retiring at the end of the year. Succeeding her and taking over the case will be Kimberly Childs, an attorney elected to the bench in May.
The indictment against him alleges that the earliest incident occurred sometime in late 2004 to late 2006 and saw Dendy take one of the boys into a Cobb department store in order to commit a sexual act.
Another alleged incident of child molestation involved the same boy at Dendy’s Creekview Court home sometime between December 2007 and December 2009. The boy was around 13 years old at the time, according to the warrant filed regarding the incident.
The boy was the focus of another child molestation charge involving an alleged sexual incident that occurred inside a closet at Burnt Hickory Baptist Church in Powder Springs, where Dendy and his wife, Billie Dendy, have been members since 1974, according to Billie Dendy’s testimony at her husband’s bond hearing in June.
The second boy named in the indictment was 4 years old when he was allegedly molested in late December 2011, with the other boy named in the indictment witnessing the incident, according to a warrant in the case.
Dendy led the Cobb County Republican Party from 2011 to 2015. He remains in the Cobb jail after being denied bond by Grubbs back in June.
11/25/16
This case is set for trial Monday, Dec 5, 2016, 9 a.m. 6th Floor, Superior Court Building.
Some additional Dendy documents:
Some docs are not up on the Superior Court site regarding Pedophile Dendy.
Unfortunately Cobb PD has not been co-operative in providing some information about where in Michigan Dendy is suppose to have had pedophile problems. The info was put out in generalities to the media but follow up with their PIO has been substantially ignored. So no info on those Michigan charges is here.
==========================
Misc Update: Cobb County Police released info to the media that Dendy had outstanding cases both in South Carolina (verified) and with the Washtenaw County Sheriffs Office in Michigan.
The latter info can not be confirmed, 4 inquiries of the Cobb PD have produced zero further info on any such problems and the Washtenaw SO says they have not found any such information.
=================================================
Hearing # Judge Hearing Date/Time Type Action
1 GRUBBS 09/29/2016 08:30AM ARRAIGNMENT
2 GRUBBS 11/03/2016 01:30PM MOTIONS
3 GRUBBS 11/10/2016 09:00AM JURY TRIAL CALL
4 GRUBBS 11/14/2016 09:00AM JURY
Def # Count Offense Severity Sentenced
1 1 ENTICING CHILD INDE FELONY NO
1 2 CHILD MOLESTATION FELONY NO
1 3 CRUELTY TO CHILDREN FELONY NO
1 4 ENTICING CHILD INDE FELONY NO
1 5 CHILD MOLESTATION FELONY NO
1 6 AGGRAVATED SEXUAL BATTERY FELONY NO
1 7 ENTICING CHILD INDE FELONY NO
1 8 CHILD MOLESTATION FELONY NO
1 9 AGGRAVATED CHILD MOLESTATION FELONY NO
1 10 CRUELTY TO CHILDREN FELONY NO
1 11 CHILD MOLESTATION FELONY NO
1 12 CRUELTY TO CHILDREN FELONY NO
1 13 CRUELTY TO CHILDREN FELONY NO
-------------------------------------------------
10/5/16
Some additional documents in the Joseph Dendy Pedophile case are here FYI.
Latest seems to be that his former lawyer is now out of the picture. Don't blame the guy for not wanting to represent someone who has a 55 year history of child molestation, including his own grandson.
Dendy remains in Cobb County Jail while this matter winds its way through the court, should take another year at least and a typical sentence for this is 20-25 years. Obviously a life sentence in the case of a 72 year old.
Perhaps Dendy will end up celling with disgraced former Kennesaw mayor Leonard Church (still at Long State Prison).
Both Dendy and Church are Republicans. My observations over the years is that Republicans are prone to stubbing their toes on Sex matters and Democrats are put away for stealing money.
More child sex crime charges for Fmr. Cobb Co. GOP Chairman accused in Laurens
COBB CO., GA (WSPA) – Fmr. Cobb Co., Georgia GOP Chairman Joseph “Joe” Dendy has been indicted on 13 charges.
The indictment in Cobb Co. shows the following charges:
· 3 counts of enticing a child for indecent purposes
· 4 counts of child molestation
· 4 counts of cruelty to children in the first degree
· 1 count aggravated sexual battery
· 1 count aggravated child molestation
The indictment accuses Dendy of crimes against 2 boys.
One under 16 and the other under 18. It says the incidents happened in the closet inside Burnt Hickory Baptist Church, the fitting room of a department store and a bathroom.
Dendy is accused of molestation, sodomy and threatening to harm a child and the child’s family.
THE ACCUSATION IN LAURENS
In Laurens, he is accused of inappropriately touching a 10-year-old girl in Laurens Co., S.C., according to warrants.
The Laurens incident report says one of the parents called the police about Dendy touching the child.
The parent said it happened between June 4 and June 7, 2015.
They said Dendy asked the girl to play hide and seek with him in a back bedroom.
The child said Dendy grabbed her buttocks and wouldn’t let go and that it made her uncomfortable.
Dendy is charged with Criminal Sexual Conduct with a minor under 11, 1st degree in Laurens Co.
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Joseph Dendy, Marietta, GA
Male, Age 71, 02/16/1945Owner at Five star vacations.
Joseph Dendy is listed as a Chief Executive Officer with Five Star Vacations, Inc. in Georgia. The address on file for this person is 411 Creek View Ct Nw, Marietta, GA 30064 in Cobb County.
The company is a Georgia Domestic Profit Corporation, which was filed on June 29, 1993. The filing status is listed as Active/Owes Current Year Ar. The address on file for this company is 411 Creekview Ct Nw, Marietta, GA 30064-1814 in Cobb County.
The Registered Agent of record is Joe Dendy.
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Five Star Vacations, Inc. is a Georgia Domestic Profit Corporation filed on June 29, 1993.The company's filing status is listed as Active/Owes Current Year Ar and its File Number is K314891.
The Registered Agent on file for this company is Joe Dendy and is located at 411 Creekview Ct Nw, Marietta, GA 30064. The company's principal address is 411 Creekview Ct. Nw, Marietta, GA 30064-1814.
The company has 3 principals on record. The principals are Billie Dendy, Chance from Marietta GA, Joe Dendy, Russell Jr from Marietta GA, and Joseph Dendy from Marietta GA.
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NOTE: This blog continues -
Click on the 'OLDER POSTS' link to read more
For help in a case involving a charge of enticing a minor, Enticing a Child for Indecent Purposes Attorney consult a dedicated criminal defense attorney with the Law Offices of Melvin S. Nash.
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