Repeat sex offender sentenced again after abusing 3 minors, DA says

NEWTON COUNTY, Ga. — The Newton County District Attorney’s Office announced a Newton County sex offender was sentenced again after pleading guilty to multiple sexual abuse offenses.

According to DA Randy McGinley’s office, Derrick Crooms pled guilty to abusing three victims over more than a decade, all of whom were minors.

The DA’s office said Crooms pled guilty to four courts of rape, three counts of incest, seven counts of aggravated child molestation, two counts of aggravated sexual batter, five counts of child molestation and one count of enticing a child for indecent purposes.

Crooms was a repeat offender, having pled guilty to child molestation in 1996, according to the DA’s office.

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The DA’s office said Crooms was under investigation by the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office in 2020 after a family member of the victims told deputies Crooms had molested multiple minor girls.

While the investigation was underway, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation was called in to assist, leading to the discovery that most of the crimes Crooms was accused of happened in Newton County, the DA’s office said.

More investigation led to Crooms’ indictment. He was indicted in October 2021.

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As Channel 2 Action New previously reported, Crooms committed some of his crimes while traveling around the United States with his wife, Rachel Overton.

Overton was a traveling nurse. She became aware of Crooms’ alleged actions and did not report them to police. While in Wisconsin in February 2021, she was arrested and charged with cruelty to children and failure to report as a mandated reporter.

She was then extradited to Oconee County the following April and released on bond soon after, sheriff’s records show.

On Nov. 14, Crooms was sentenced and his victims, including the one from his 1996 guilty plea, detailed how his actions impacted their lives.

Following statements from the victims and their families and a pre-sentence investigation, Crooms was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to properly identify the Newton County District Attorney. It previously had the wrong member of the DA’s office attributed, rather than DA Randy McGinley.

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