Victim helps police catch sexual assault suspect on new charges
Jeanie Fulcher was only 7 years old when her cousin by marriage robbed her of her innocence. Derrick Crooms pleaded guilty to the crime in 1996. Today, 25 years later, he faces similar charges. When Fulcher heard of the 18 new charges of sexual assault against children, she did everything she could to locate him and ultimately obtained information on his fate, which led the police to his capture.
NEWTON COUNTY, Georgia. – After Derrick Crooms was removed from Georgia’s sex offender registry, he was arrested again on 18 related charges To indecent assault, incest and rape.
“He took my innocence when I was seven,” said Jeanie Fulcher, now 34. “I don’t know if you can really get over this.”
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Newton County man arrested on 18 counts of child sexual abuse
A registered sex offender, who was taken off the list in 2017, has been arrested again and charged with 18 counts of child sexual abuse. Derrick Crooms, 49, was arrested by the US Marshals at a Stone Mountain home on Friday morning.
Fulcher said she decided to go public with her story to encourage other victims to speak to law enforcement.
Court records show that Crooms pleaded guilty in 1996 to sexual assault charges for what he did to Fulcher, his step cousin. A judge sentenced him to 20 years, but he only served four.
“It happened to me for a year before I had the courage to tell someone about it,” Fulcher said.
The U.S. Marshalls arrested the Covington man at a Stone Mountain home on Friday.
In December 2020, the Child Exploitation and Computer Crime Unit of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation received a request for assistance from the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office in investigating multiple offenses. sex committed against children by Crooms, ”said GBI Deputy Special Agent Lindsay Marchant. A press release. “The investigation revealed that these crimes allegedly took place in Newton County, Georgia, as well as in several different locations in the United States.”
In 2017, Crooms successfully asked a judge to remove his name from the sex offender registry despite Fultcher’s objections and his guilty plea.
“Their argument was that he was a changed man and that he was a model citizen who was out of trouble, hadn’t committed a crime since,” she said.
Sexual assault victim speaks out to try to empower others to come forward
Derrick Crooms pleaded guilty to assaulting his cousin Jeanie Fulcher in 1996. He faces new allegations that he did the same to other little girls in his family 25 years later. Fulcher says she decided to speak out publicly to encourage other victims to report to law enforcement.
Fulcher believes the new charges show he hasn’t changed and should never have been taken off the sex offender registry or put back on the streets.
“I think our legal system has failed us,” she said. “I think once you’ve pleaded guilty to child rape, sexual assault charges, you shouldn’t get out of jail at all. You shouldn’t get a second chance.”
His removal from the sex offender registry meant he could travel freely with his wife, Rachel Overton, who the GBI said failed to stop the serial assaults.
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