Sex offender pleads guilty to child molestation

Date: February 01, 2022

A 34-year-old Augusta man accused of child molestation opted to plead guilty Monday, Jan. 31, instead of standing trial.

Obrian Steele pleaded guilty in Richmond County Superior Court to a single count of child molestation. Judge Ashley Wright accepted the negotiated sentence of eight years in prison followed by 12 years on probation.

Steele was a registered sex offender. He guilty to statutory rape in 2008 for having sex with a 13-year-old when he was 18. Steele was also convicted of failure to register as a sex offender in 2011 and for robbery and burglary in 2015.

Sandy Hodson is a staff reporter covering courts for The Augusta Press. Reach her at sandy@theaugustapress.com. 

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The Author

Award-winning journalist Sandy Hodson The Augusta Press courts reporter. She is a native of Indiana, but she has been an Augusta resident since 1995 when she joined the staff of the Augusta Chronicle where she covered courts and public affairs. Hodson is a graduate of Ball State University, and she holds a certificate in investigative reporting from the Investigative Reporters and Editors organization. Before joining the Chronicle, Hodson spent six years at the Jackson, Tenn. Sun. Hodson received the prestigious Georgia Press Association Freedom of Information Award in 2015, and she has won press association awards for investigative reporting, non-deadline reporting, hard news reporting, public service and specialty reporting. In 2000, Hodson won the Georgia Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Award, and in 2001, she received Honorable Mention for the same award and is a fellow of the National Press Foundation and a graduate of the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting boot camp.

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