Jury finds former middle school coach guilty of 2 of 4 sex charges

Published 8:30 pm Wednesday, June 7, 2023

MOULTRIE – A Colquitt County jury took about half an hour Wednesday to find a former Willie J. Williams Middle School coach guilty on two of four charges leveled against him.

Nicholas Edge, 45, of Moultrie, faced charges of child molestation, sexual contact by employee or agent in first degree, sexual battery against a child under 16 and criminal attempt to entice a child for indecent purposes in connection with incidents in March 2022.

The jury found him guilty of sexual contact by employee or agent in first degree and of sexual battery against a child under 16, but it found him not guilty of child molestation and criminal attempt to entice a child.

The jury was seated Monday, the prosecution began Tuesday and finished Wednesday, the defense made its case on Wednesday, and the jury received the case at 4:34 p.m. Jurors returned at 5:07 p.m. with their verdict.

The victim, who was 11 years old at the time of the incidents, took the stand on Tuesday. The Observer is withholding her name and some other details of testimony to protect her identity due to her age and the nature of the allegations.

In testimony on Tuesday, the victim, her mother and forensic interviewer Regina Dismuke, executive director of Hero House, described three incidents the girl said happened. The girl participated on a sports team that Edge coached. She said he touched her inappropriately on a bus trip back from a sporting event in Valdosta and again during a team practice session, and she said he made improper comments during a conversation she had with him in the school cafeteria.

On Wednesday, jurors heard from a second juvenile on the team. Then Senior Assistant District Attorney Robert Rogers called the state’s final witness, GBI Special Agent Jalessa Williams.

During Williams’ testimonial, the jury viewed video footage taken from the night of the school bus ride return home from the sports event. The footage appeared to show the defendant approaching the middle of the bus to address loud students who were seated in the rear of the bus. Edge is shown sitting in the same seat as the victim. His back is initially facing away from the child, but he changes his positioning with his back facing the rear of the seat several times. In two of the three videos, he can be seen placing his hand on the child’s thigh.

The prosecution played an audio recording of Williams’ interview with Edge. In it, he tells the GBI agent that he touched the victim’s leg because she’d complained of a cramp.

Once the defense took over, attorney Karla Walker called five witnesses.

The witnesses, which included an assistant coach from the WJW sports team the girl played on, stated they never saw Edge alone with her during a practice session for the sport, which was part of the allegation of the second incident.

The allegation involving the conversation in the cafeteria revolved around the victim being invited to a sleepover at Edge’s house. In her testimony Tuesday the victim had said Edge told her they could “do grown-up things” there. On cross-examination she had said Edge’s daughter had invited her to the sleepover.

Edge’s daughter testified on Wednesday that she had never invited the victim to a sleepover. She said she considered a sleepover as a party with friends. The daughter did not consider the victim as a friend, which was corroborated by an assistant basketball coach and the victim’s own testimony.

Edge will remain free on bond until a sentencing hearing scheduled for 2 p.m. July 18 at the Colquitt County Courthouse Annex Courtroom.