South Georgia kindergarten teacher arrested on 4 counts of child molestation

A South Georgia kindergarten teacher was arrested Saturday and charged with four counts of child molestation, according to several news reports.

The Long County Sheriff’s Office took 40-year-old Dennis Jefferson Cooke into custody at his Ludowici home, and he is being held on a $200,000 bond, according to jail records. It’s unclear whether the charges are all related to the same child, and an age for the alleged victim has not been released.
Investigators have not found any connection to his job as a kindergarten teacher at Taylors Creek Elementary School in Liberty County, as the arrest and charges come out of Long County’s jurisdiction, Savannah-based news station WTOC-TV reported.

The Liberty County School System provided news station WJCL with a statement that said, in part: “The district has no knowledge of any wrongdoing in our school system; however, we will cooperate with law enforcement.”

The school system has placed Cooke on administrative leave, the statement also said.

Ludowici is a city in Long County, and it is about 55 miles southwest of Savannah and about 240 miles southeast of downtown Atlanta.