News 12 at 6 o'clock, July 23, 2008

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Frank Glover was someone the Richmond County Sheriff's Office trusted. He worked for the sheriff's office for 25 years. Tonight, he's on the other side of the law charged with child molestation.

This latest arrest brings the count to two former Sheriff's deputies and a high school band director.

All three in a position of trust in Richmond County and all three charged with sex crimes against a child this year.

A Richmond County grand jury says the man behind this uniform is a child molester and what's worse; the victim is his own daughter.

"She cries. I cry. She cried last night," says the victim's mother to News 12. We're hiding her identity to protect her 15-year-old daughter who came forward in May to say her father rubbed her breasts and her buttocks; she says he also tried to put his hand down her bra.

Mother, "I was shocked. I was startled. It hurt me because it's her father."
Gardner, "And did you trust him?"
Mother, "Yes I did. By he being her father who wouldn't trust their father?"

Trust ... It's a word that other recent cases have in common. Deputy Lindon Haworth arrested and charged in June for molesting his neighbor, the victim and her family trusted him.

And former Butler High School Band Director Anthony Shelton, a teacher and mentor trusted with hundreds of students, now charged with molesting three of them.

This woman's daughter is also a student at Butler High School. "I think it's a problem growing with these sick individuals."

We tracked the numbers; there have been 71 sex crime cases against children this year in Richmond County.

Believe it or not, that's average for our area. And get this; the cases of child molestation seem to be decreasing in Richmond County over the last five years.

The cases of sex crimes against children according to RCSO:
2003 - 166 cases
2004 - 121 cases
2005- 149 cases
2006 - 121 cases
2007 - 105 cases

And in 2007, Augusta had fewer cases than Columbus, Ga which reported 182 cases of sex crimes against children.

While our case load may not be as big, it's no less difficult for each individual victim and their families. "Punish them enough to know to let everyone else know; you can't get away with this. You can't get away with hurting young innocent victims because they got to live with this for the rest of their lives."

Frank Glover is still in jail awaiting his bond hearing. The former deputy retired last year. His step-daughter also claimed he abused her in 2005 to DFACS, but no-one ever reported it to law enforcement.