News

On June 23, 2025, Johnathan Muse, 38, pleaded guilty to Aggravated Sexual Battery of a minor child and was sentenced by Carroll County Superior Court Judge Erica Tisinger to 20 years in confinement, without the possibility of parole, followed by life on probation.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Jared Parrish and District Attorney Investigator Katia Detwiler prosecuted the case. Investigator Shane North with the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office led the investigation was instrumental in the prosecution of the case. North’s investigation of the 2021 disclosure by the child yielded the following:

In October 2021, officers with the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office responded to the Defendant’s Bowdon residence, in reference to a child’s disclosure of sexual abuse perpetrated by the Defendant. Members of the child’s family informed officers of the child’s disclosure and advised that the Defendant had acknowledged that the allegations were true.

When interviewed by investigators, Defendant informed the officers that he had be molesting the child for a number of years. The Defendant also provided investigators with details of the abuse that corroborated the child’s disclosure.

This case serves as another example of the coordination between multiple organizations in our community to protect our children and to bring their abusers to justice. In addition to the Carroll County Sheriff’s office, the case involved the Carroll County Child Advocacy Center and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Above all, the District Attorney’s Office commends the bravery of a young child and the vigilance of a family determined to protect her.