Former Bibb deputy facing abuse allegations from nine women

Nine women have come forward with allegations of abuse by former Bibb County sheriff's deputy Jeffrey Brian Prestridge, who was fired and arrested in February and remains behind bars.

Prestridge, 34, is charged with aggravated assault, aggravated battery and false imprisonment in connection with an Oct. 30, 2015, incident involving a former girlfriend, who reported that Prestridge assaulted her with a wine bottle, choked her and punched her, breaking one of her ribs.

Prestridge's lawyer, Ashley Deadwyler-Heuman, questioned the timing of the woman coming forward with allegations of abuse in late January and said her actions likely were in retaliation for Prestridge having just ended a relationship with her.

At a show-cause hearing Wednesday in Bibb County Superior Court, Deadwyler-Heuman showed surveillance video of the woman with Prestridge at a CVS pharmacy the day after the alleged assault.

"She doesn't appear to be injured, and she appears to be there on her own free will," Deadwyler-Heuman said.

However, when the woman called to report the alleged abuse from Prestridge in late January, it wasn't the first time local law enforcement had received such a call about the deputy.

Early in 2014, a woman reported Prestridge had beaten her children, ages 7 and 8, on their backs with a belt and punched them in their private parts in December 2013. When the woman was first interviewed by sheriff's Lt. Cynthia Robertson, "she denied and even defended (Prestridge)," Robertson said Wednesday. "She stated none of it happened."

The next day, the woman changed her story.

"She told me she was terrified," Robertson said, adding that she "begged" not to be recorded. "She wanted me just to help her get her property from (Prestridge). ... She didn't want him to lose his job. She just wanted to be able to leave without any incident."

Nothing came of the woman's report until late February, when a warrant was issued for Prestridge's arrest on two counts of cruelty to children in connection with the December 2013 incident.

At Wednesday's hearing, Judge Howard Simms ruled there's "no question" of probable cause.

Reports about the alleged abuse prompted more women to come forward with similar accounts. Sheriff's Sgt. Shelly Rutherford said the latest woman to make an abuse claim against Prestridge -- a woman from Mississippi -- called authorities Tuesday.

The woman said Prestridge never physically hurt her but was controlling and verbally abusive, Rutherford said.

The woman said that "when they would get into arguments, he would either pull out his gun or his taser and threatened to shoot her," Rutherford said. "He would act as if he was doing it in a joking manner, but she felt like he was very capable of acting out his threats."

Rutherford said she has spoken with several women who made similar allegations -- that Prestridge choken them out of anger or bashed their heads against a car window while they were driving.

Deadwyler-Heuman said the prosecution "keeps mentioning all these women and using them to bolster" the charges relating to the Oct. 31, 2015, incident.

But District Attorney David Cooke said it was important to show a pattern.

"What we show is a string of incidents over and over ... where he continuously victimizes women and children," District Attorney David Cooke said at Wednesday's hearing. "We intend to indict next month ... on most of these allegations."

To contact writer Laura Corley, call 744-4334 and follow her on Twitter @Lauraecor.

This story was originally published March 30, 2016 at 8:10 PM with the headline "Former Bibb deputy facing abuse allegations from nine women ."