WTVM reported that Joseph Cooner, a former Russell County sheriff's deputy, was arrested by the Russell County Sheriff's Office and faces four felony counts of a school employee engaging in a sexual act with a student under 19. According to the station, Cooner worked about a year and a half as a deputy before being assigned as a school resource officer at a middle school this school year, while the alleged relationship involved a high school student. Sheriff Heath Taylor said the allegations began as a rumor and that investigators interviewed students, Cooner and the student involved. Taylor said Cooner's and the student's accounts matched and that the office believes the evidence will show four encounters in the last month. Cooner is held in the Tallapoosa County Jail on a $40,000 total bond.
Why it matters
The case involves a school resource officer accused under an Alabama law that covers school employees, including resource officers. The charges are allegations, and the report says a grand jury indictment has not yet occurred.
Charged: Prosecutors filed criminal charges. A charge is not proof of guilt, and the person is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. Researched with AI assistance from the sources listed here and reviewed under our methodology.