Two Northwest Georgia men were sentenced to prison for child molestation, according to releases from the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit.
Jeffery Lee Zelko, 42, of Catoosa County, pled guilty to incest and child molestation and was sentenced to 15 years in prison to be followed by 25 years of sex offender probation.
Jonathan Michael Culberson, 33, of Summerville, was found guilty by a jury of four counts of child molestation and one count of sexual battery of a child under 16 years old. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison to be followed by 15 years of sex offender probation.
The Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit includes Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade and Walker counties.
Zelko abused a minor family member who reported the abuse to a family friend. The victim and her family supported the guilty plea deal "to prevent the victim from having to publicly testify and relive the trauma she had already endured," the release states
Culberson abused an underage girl in 2020. He exposed himself in various ways, looked at pornography in front of the child and touched her inappropriately, according to the release. The victim then disclosed the information immediately to her mother.
The victim testified in Culberson's case.
"This a brave, fierce little girl," Chris Arnt, Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit district attorney, said in the release. "I hope that the incredible work done by the Chattooga County Sheriff's Office and Janet Burch with the Child Advocacy Center can help her and her family heal."
-compiled by Tierra Hayes
Photo contributed by the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit / Jonathan Michael Culberson