The attorney for a DeKalb County coach who was found with a partially nude student is hoping a quirk in Georgia law can help his client.

Darrel Lake, who is charged with sexual assault of a person in custody, denies having inappropriate contact with the 18-year-old student at Cedar Grove High. But attorney Jackie Patterson told Channel 2 Action News it doesn’t matter what happened, because the law doesn’t apply to Lake because he’s a coach and paraprofessional, not a teacher.

In 2016, the Georgia Supreme Court indeed tossed the conviction of a Cherokee County coach and paraprofessional in a sex case involving a 16-year-old girl for the same reason.

"A paraprofessional is not the same thing as a teacher,” Patterson said. "Even if he had sex with a student on campus or at home or anywhere else, he is not guilty of crime.”

According to a DeKalb County Schools police report, an assistant principal at the Ellenwood school walked in on Lake and the student in a classroom on March 6. Lake, who was clothed, said the student pulled her pants down without his consent; the student said Lake did it but said he hadn’t touched her inappropriately.

Like DeKalb County News Now on Facebook | Follow on Twitter and Instagram

About the Author

Keep Reading

Ayana Meriweather walks with her son and her siblings back to the Forest Cove apartments in Atlanta after the bus dropped the children off from Slater Elementary on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Featured

The last Michelin Guide Awards ceremony took place at the Georgia World Congress Center on Monday, Oct 28, 2024.

Credit: Jenni Girtman