Former Marietta teacher gets 10 years for child molestation

Ten years behind bars is the sentence Freddie Lee Early, a former Marietta City Schools teacher, received for child molestation.

The Cobb District Attorney’s Office announced that Early, 50, pleaded guilty to two counts of child molestation earlier this week. In a non-negotiated plea, Cobb Superior Court Judge Ann Harris sentenced him to 10 years in prison, to be followed by 10 years probation.

Early formerly worked as an elementary school aid at Dunleith Elementary School which included him handling in-school suspensions. In addition, Early served as a music minister at Reset Church in Morrow.

Prosecutors said that on January 11, 2021, a juvenile male victim told his middle school teacher that he and his younger brother had been victims of Early’s inappropriate behavior between October and December of 2020.

The D.A.’s office said police detectives spoke to the two brothers individually and learned that a family friend, Freddie Early, had been grooming them and that “Early had attended the boys’ church from time to time as well.” 

Early bought gifts for the boys, took them out to dinner and let them spend time at his home, prosecutors said.

The DA’s Office said, “He eventually walked around his home with his private parts exposed and made sexually explicit comments to the brothers.”

One of the brothers recorded an incident of Early making sexually explicit comments without Early’s knowledge, prosecutors said. Following his arrest, Early voluntarily surrendered his teaching license.

During the plea hearing, the boys spoke about how Early’s behavior affected them which led to Judge Harris admonishing the defendant. “You’re a groomer and molester,” she said. “You preyed on the trust of two motherless teenage boys who needed someone. You victimized them then and again today. This is shameful conduct. I can’t fix what happened, but I can make sure there are no more victims.”