A former Douglas County deputy was locked up Tuesday at the jail he once guarded after GBI investigators accused him of sexually assaulting a female inmate.
Austin Cole Sluder, 27, of Douglasville, was arrested on charges of improper sexual contact and violation of oath of office by a public officer. He was being held Wednesday at the Douglas County jail.
The alleged sexual assault was reported Sept. 17, 2021, seven days after Sluder completed a basic law enforcement training course and was sworn in to begin his assignment at the jail.
The GBI opened their case Oct. 27 at the request of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and spent months investigating.
Sluder spent just five months at the sheriff’s office, his first sworn job in Georgia law enforcement. He was fired Oct. 20, according to his record with the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Council.
According to the sheriff’s office, the inmate told authorities Sluder used his cellphone to take nude photos of her in July. The Douglas agency investigated the claims internally, but couldn’t determine if the deputy used his phone to snap the photos. The in-house investigation resulted in Sluder’s termination when it came to light that the deputy took his phone into the cell block.
Douglas County officials said another inmate came forward after Sluder was fired and accused the former deputy of forcing her to perform oral sex on him while she was in jail. That’s when Sheriff Tim Pounds requested the GBI to step in and conduct an independent criminal investigation.
Sluder went before Chief Magistrate Judge Susan Camp on Wednesday morning. The judge set his bond at $200,000 and ordered him to wear a tracking device if he’s released on bail, the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
“I’ve said this before and I’m going to say it again. As long as you follow the law and my policy, I will back you 110%,” Pounds said in the statement. “However, if you step outside the law or the policy, you are on your own. If you violate the law, you, like everyone else, will have to suffer the consequences of your actions.”
— Data specialist Jennifer Peebles contributed to this article.
About the Author
