brinkeroff sentenced to life for molestation

​FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

On Friday, a Spalding County jury convicted Brian Marshall Brinkerhoff, a 42 year old man from Griffin, GA of multiple counts of abuse against children. The defendant was arrested in April of 2020 after allegations surfaced that he was touching the victim inappropriately. During the investigation, it was discovered that the defendant was grooming the victim over a substantial period of time, “teaching” the victim how engage in multiple sex acts. The details of the abuse are so horrific that it is impossible to relay them in a press release. The Spalding County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. Senior Assistant District Attorney Kathryn Lenhard and Assistant District Attorney Holly MacDonald presented the case for the State.
Unknown to the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes division was running a simultaneous investigation into crimes committed by the defendant. From 2017 through 2019, the defendant posed as a 16-year-old on Facebook where he trolled for teenage girls online. He engaged in explicit sex talk with young teens, and then, despite being told the girls were under 16 years of age, would befriend, groom, and bully the girls to send nude pictures to him over Facebook Messenger.

A Spalding County jury found the defendant guilty of Aggravated Child Molestation, three counts of Aggravated Sexual Battery, Incest, and five counts of Obscene Internet Contact with a Child. The Honorable Scott Ballard sentenced the defendant to Life in Prison followed by 30 years to serve.
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ADA Lenhard said, “[t]his case is built of the nightmares of parents across the country. Unsuspecting teenagers played right into his hands as he manipulated them into taking their clothes off and sending images that will exist online forever. Meanwhile, the defendant played out his basest fantasies in real life on a victim within his own home; a girl who had nowhere else to turn.”
District Attorney Marie Broder agreed and said, “the crimes committed by this man were, simply put, horrific. I’m so proud of the jury, law enforcement, and my team for working so hard to make sure this defendant was held accountable for his crimes. People who commit these crimes do so in the dark. We are committed to exposing these evildoers and standing up for the most vulnerable in this Circuit.”