Cherokee County man gets 35 years for sexual battery on overpass near Acworth

ACWORTH — A Cherokee County jury convicted 33-year-old Sedric Charles Williams Jr. of attempted rape and sexual battery last week for a 2024 attack on a woman walking alone near a highway overpass, and a judge sentenced him to 35 years in prison.

What happened: Early on the morning of August 1, 2024, a woman was walking along Highway 92 near Acworth, between a McDonald’s and a RaceTrac, when Williams approached her and asked if she wanted to have sex. When she said no, he followed her onto the overpass at Highway 92 and I-75 and assaulted her. He left before deputies arrived.

What he said: The next morning, a deputy found Williams in the Acworth area of Bartow County. Before being told he faced any charges, Williams asked, “Is this about the girl?” and said, “I just touched her back.”

“Those admissions, made before the defendant was even told that he was being charged with a crime, became key pieces of evidence supporting the victim’s account. In addition, a witness saw the defendant chasing the woman, video surveillance helped identify him at the scene, and DNA evidence further corroborated the victim’s report,” said Assistant District Attorney Rebecca N. Visockis.

The trial: A Cherokee County jury convicted Williams on October 1 on one count of criminal attempt to commit rape and two counts of sexual battery. Nine witnesses testified for the state, including the 2024 victim and a second woman Williams had assaulted less than a year earlier.

That earlier case happened in September 2023, also in Acworth, in Cobb County, less than a mile from the 2024 attack. Williams pleaded guilty to sexual battery in that case. The second victim described circumstances similar to what happened in 2024.

Williams testified at trial. “This defendant testified that when he saw the victim early that morning he ‘got butterflies.’ But evidence at trial showed that the victim told him she was not interested and walked away. He responded by chasing her down and assaulting her. Women should be able to walk alone safely in Cherokee County and, with this verdict and sentence, that message is clear,” said Assistant District Attorney Megan S. Hertel.

The sentence: Superior Court Judge Jennifer L. Davis sentenced Williams on October 6 to 40 years total, with the first 35 years in prison and the rest on probation. The sentence matched what prosecutors asked for. The defense argued for a lighter sentence.

Judge Davis also ordered Williams to have no contact with either victim and barred him from Bartow, Cherokee, Cobb, and Paulding counties, the four-county area that spans the Acworth community.

“This defendant demonstrated a disturbing pattern of escalating violence, assaulting two victims within a year. We are grateful both women came forward and that our community is safer now that this defendant has been removed from the streets,” said District Attorney Susan K. Treadaway.