A Catoosa County judge said he wouldn't have allowed a Chattanooga man charged with molesting a teenage girl to be freed on bond if he had known about a similar charge pending in Tennessee.
"Nobody informed me that [Greg Austin] was out on bond on a similar charge in Tennessee," said Magistrate Judge Vic Wells. "He wouldn't have gotten a bond from me with a previous charge in Tennessee."
But Catoosa County Sheriff Phil Summers said Austin's history, including charges that he allegedly had sex with a 14-year-old girl in Chattanooga six months ago, were given to the judge.
"We did run a criminal history check on him," Summers said. "And the judge had it in his possession."
Wells insisted no one told him that Austin was out on a previous bond. The judge said he plans to revoke Austin's bond today now that he knows about the charges.
Austin, former president of CTC Technology, was arrested in Fort Oglethorpe on Thursday on suspicion of child molestation. The mother of the alleged victim told police Austin had raped her daughter in front of another girl at a Fort Oglethorpe motel, while another girl stayed in the bathroom, police reports show.
Austin was released Friday after posting a $10,000 bond.
In April, Austin was charged in Hamilton County for allegedly having sex with a 14-year-old girl after her mother reported she found inappropriate text messages from him on the child's cell phone, reports show.
The mother alleged Austin had taken the girl to a motel in East Ridge more than once and had sex with her, according to reports.
After he was released on a $15,000 bond, Austin's case was bound over to the grand jury in May, court records show.
Austin did not return calls seeking comment.
While Austin still is listed as the registered agent for CTC Technology, a Chattanooga-based company, on the Tennessee secretary of state's website, an employee for the company said he no longer was employed there.
The company, which performs computer network installation and management, merged with Executone-TCOM in August 2008, according to the company's website.