Judge Denies Bond Modification for Accused Child Molester Jeremy Green
No bond modification for Jeremy Green, the Bowersville man accused in the 2015 child molestation of a young girl at the Hartwell YMCA.
Green’s attorney, Nancee Tomlinson, came before Hart County Superior Court Judge Chris Phelps Monday to ask that her client be allowed to work outside the home.
Green was arrested in June 2021 and later indicted on August 17, 2021.
The six-count indictment alleges Green molested and raped “a teenage girl under the age of 16 from July 2015 to November 2015.” That girl was later identified as Jennifer Cobb.
Green was released on a $250,000 bond. He has pled not guilty.
Under the terms of his bond, Green was ordered to remain under house arrest, wear an ankle monitor, have no contact with the Cobb family, not use or own a cell phone, and only be allowed to travel outside the home to see his attorney or to a doctor’s appointment with no stops in between.
In court Monday, Judge Phelps read the initial bond conditions from 2021 for the first time noting he was unfamiliar with the case, and questions arose as to where in the bond conditions did it state Green was under house arrest.
Tomlinson said it could be found on page 32 of the bond conditions.
She pointed out that for the past two and a half years, Green has kept every aspect of his bond conditions and would still abide by the bond modification if approved.
She told Judge Phelps Monday that Green was offered a job with Howell’s Lawn Maintenance LLC, a lawn care company in Elbert County owned by Clifford Beattie.
Beattie testified Green would work with a crew and would be under supervision at all times.
In her testimony against allowing the bond modification, Jennifer Cobb’s mother Susan said allowing Green to work outside the home would be putting other children in danger, including Beattie’s children.
Under objections from Green’s attorney, Susan Cobb described how Green had allegedly “groomed” her daughter from the age of 11 at the Bell Family YMCA where she was taking gymnastics, telling her if she told anyone about the alleged abuse, her dad would kill him and he would go to jail.
Cobb recalled how her daughter had testified at Green’s initial bond hearing in 2021 and that her daughter was devastated when he received bond. Cobb said her daughter was afraid Green would come after her again.
Six days later, Jennifer Cobb was found dead at age 20.
In response, Tomlinson again asked Judge Phelps to consider the bond modification and told Susan Cobb she was sorry for her loss but that her client had also lost someone he cared about, referring to Jennifer.
After hearing testimony from both sides, Phelps denied Green a bond modification and recommended the case be brought to trial soon to “move the case to closure.” And he added that he had two trial weeks in Hart County coming up in the fall and suggested the case might be added to his court calendar for one of those weeks.
He also noted Tomlinson’s early request for a change of venue for her client’s trial and said a request of that nature does not normally come up until jury selection.
Tomlinson said she filed it in 2021 as a stop-gap measure because of the publicity surrounding Green’s arrest at the time.
WLHR News reached out to Susan Cobb after the hearing Monday but was referred to the attorney handling a civil case the Cobbs have brought against Green and the Bell Family YMCA who would speak for the family.
In a prepared statement Monday, attorney Kara Phillips with the law firm of Deitch & Rogers LLC said, “Jennifer Cobb’s family is thankful and relieved that the Court denied Jeremy Green’s motion to remove house arrest as a condition of his bond. They thank and commend DA Parks White and his team’s opposition to Green’s motion on behalf of the State. Finally, they thank the community who came out to support Jennifer.”
WLHR News will continue to bring you updates on this ongoing story as they become available.