A veteran Hall County Sheriff’s investigator whose job was to look into allegations of misconduct within the agency was charged Thursday with molesting a 3-year-old girl, authorities said.
Internal Affairs Investigator Michael D. Nix, 42, one of two deputies in the sheriff’s internal affairs division, was booked into the Hall County Jail on one count of aggravated child molestation, Hall County Sheriff’s Col. Jeff Strickland said.
Strickland said agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation brought the charges against Nix after investigating a complaint from the parents of a 3-year-old girl. The girl had stayed in Nix’s Clermont home while his wife was baby-sitting her, Strickland said.
The girl told her parents what happened and was later interviewed at a center for child victims of sexual abuse, Strickland said.
The molestation is alleged to have occurred within the past several months, Strickland said. The girl’s parents went to Hall County Sheriff’s officials late Monday, Strickland said.
The investigation was headed up by the GBI at the request of the sheriff’s office.
Nix agreed to speak with investigators, Strickland said.
Nix’s direct supervisor, Internal Affairs Commander Lt. Robin Kemp, was not involved in the investigation because of Nix’s assignment to that division, Strickland said.
Nix had been with the sheriff’s office for 20 years, working his way up the ranks from a road deputy to investigations. In the internal affairs division, he investigated other deputies within the agency for possible rules violations and misconduct.
"It is unfortunate to have a veteran officer arrested on such serious charges," Strickland said. "We take this very seriously, therefore as a result of today’s arrest, the officer has been terminated and jailed."
Nix was expected to make his first appearance before a magistrate court judge later Thursday. Strickland said Nix would likely be boarded out to another county’s jail due to his former position within the sheriff’s office.
Aggravated child molestation is the most serious molestation charge under Georgia law and carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in prison.