Stephen Zachary WilliamsFormer Walker County Deputy Stephen Zachary Williams has been arrested and charged with rape and incest, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Williams, 39, had been under investigation since Sept. 8 of last year when Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson asked the GBI to look into the allegations of sexual abuse against a minor.
An order of protection for the victim and her mother was granted on Oct. 5 in Chattooga County, where Williams lives.
The Times Free Press is not identifying the victim, because the newspaper does not identify victims of sexual assault without their consent. Nor is the Times Free Press identifying her mother, because that would identify the victim.
Williams was placed on administrative leave without pay on Dec. 10 and was fired on Thursday, the same day he was arrested.
A clerk with the Chattooga County Sheriff’s Office declined to provide an arrest report or criminal complaint, saying that the sheriff’s office did not have possession of those documents.
Wilson declined to comment but said all of the alleged crimes took place while Williams was off duty.
Williams, who had been a Walker County sheriff’s deputy since February 2018, could not be reached for comment.
According to Chattooga County civil court records obtained by the Times Free Press, the victim’s mother alleged that Williams was “under investigation by the GBI for sexually abusing and stalking and harassing my daughter.”
“She is scared to even sleep in her own home,” the woman wrote in her application for the restraining order. “We want him to leave us alone and stop contacting us and stop having others contact us.”
When a person seeks an order of protection, a hearing must take place first. A judge may issue an emergency order of protection to protect the petitioner – or victim – until the hearing can take place. An emergency order was granted in the case against Williams.
During the hearing, both the petitioner and the alleged abuser have a chance to plead their case before a judge.
In Williams’ case, that hearing took place on Oct. 5.
The victim’s mother spoke on her daughter’s behalf. Because the daughter did not testify to avoid cross-examination by Williams’ then-attorney, the mother was limited to speak only about what she witnessed first-hand.
According to court records, the mother said that after her daughter obtained her learner’s permit in 2019 – which listed their new address – the mother started seeing Williams in his patrol vehicle at a gas station where she stopped every morning. And he reportedly was seen at the daughter’s school.
Several months later, the mother learned of the alleged abuse, reported it to police and sought the restraining order.
“The things that my daughter has told me that he has done to her she’s scared,” the mother told Superior Court Judge Kristina Graham. “We haven’t been able to stay at our house.”
Williams and his attorney Scott King were opposed to the order of protection because, if granted, it would require Williams to surrender his service weapon, effectively causing him to lose his job in law enforcement.
“I don’t think she’s presented sufficient evidence to meet her burden,” King, who is not representing Williams in the criminal case, said at the October hearing.
Williams is being held without bond at the Chattooga County Jail.
Contact Rosana Hughes at 423-757-6327, rhughes@timesfreepress.com or follow her on Twitter @HughesRosana.