Democratic Candidate for State Senate District 47 Convicted of Child Cruelty

Athens-Banner Herald

A candidate seeking the State Senate District 47 seat in the November General Election was recently convicted of felony charges and sentenced Thursday to seven years, with two years to serve in state prison.

According to a report in the Athens-Banner Herald, Justin Grant Gillespie, 41, of Hull, was convicted in a bench trial before Madison County Superior Court Judge Chris NeSmith, who found him guilty of cruelty to children and battery.

The charges against Gillespie were filed in March 2021. The trial ended with a conviction and incarceration on Sept. 16.

The Senate District 47 race is on the ballot in Madison, Clarke, Barrow and Jackson counties.

Gillespie ran unopposed in the May Democratic primary and was to challenge incumbent Republican Frank Ginn.

The status of Gillespie’s candidacy could not be determined by late Thursday despite requests for an update from the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office and local election offices.

Northern Circuit District Attorney Parks White said Thursday that the bench trial occurred after Gillespie appeared for a jury trial but fired his attorney that day.

Gillespie retained another attorney, and the judge gave him a choice of a jury trial or a bench trial.

In a bench trial, the judge hears and weighs the evidence and reaches a verdict.

White said Assistant District Attorney Jeff Lee presented the state’s case in which a 5-year-old child was the victim.

During testimony from the victim’s family, Gillespie was seen “rolling his eyes,” and the judge considered that in sentencing, according to White.

The battery was reported to have happened on Feb. 1, 2021, at a daycare facility in Hull, where Gillespie was working and allegedly hit the child in the lower back with a spatula that left a red and raised welt, according to a Madison County sheriff’s report.

The child told investigators that Gillespie was mad at her for not taking a nap.

Gillespie admitted striking the child, but said he was on the phone and that when he swung the spatula, he didn’t realize the child was near him.

The parents filed a complaint with the sheriff’s office after finding the wound.