O.C.G.A.
O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 16-5-102 (2019)

Exploitation and intimidation of disabled adults, elder persons, and residents; obstruction of investigation

✓ O.C.G.A. — 2019 edition (Public.Resource.Org Release 73)
Code text and O.C.G.A. statutory annotations on this page reflect the 2019 Official Code of Georgia Annotated (Public.Resource.Org Release 73, 2019-08-21; public domain per Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). The Syfert case-law annotations in Notes of Decisions, below, are current.
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(a) Any person who knowingly and willfully exploits a disabled adult, elder person, or resident, willfully inflicts physical pain, physical injury, sexual abuse, mental anguish, or unreasonable confinement upon a disabled adult, elder person, or resident, or willfully deprives of essential services a disabled adult, elder person, or resident shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than 20 years, a fine of not more than $50,000.00, or both.

(b) Any person who threatens, intimidates, or attempts to intimidate a disabled adult, elder person, or resident who is the subject of a report made pursuant to Chapter 5 of Title 30 or Article 4 of Chapter 8 of Title 31, or any other person cooperating with an investigation conducted pursuant to this Code section, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature.

(c) Any person who willfully and knowingly obstructs or in any way impedes an investigation conducted pursuant to Chapter 5 of Title 30 or Article 4 of Chapter 8 of Title 31, upon conviction, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature.

History

Code 1981, § 16-5-102, enacted by Ga. L. 2013, p. 524, § 1-1/HB 78.

Annotations

Law reviews. - For article on Crimes

and Offenses: Crimes Against the Person, see 35 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 19 (2018).

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 19 cases (13 in the last 5 years), 2019–2026 · leading case: Cawthon v. State, 830 S.E.2d 270 (Ga. Ct. App. 2019).
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Cawthon v. State, 830 S.E.2d 270 (Ga. Ct. App. 2019). · cites it 12× “OCGA § 16-5-102 (a) provides, in relevant part: Any person who knowingly and willfully exploits a disabled adult, elder person, or resident, willfully inflicts physical pain, physical injury, sexual abuse, mental anguish, or unreasonable confinement upon *275 a disabled adult ,…”
Hawkins v. State, 830 S.E.2d 301 (Ga. Ct. App. 2019). · cites it 10× “1 (Count One); three counts of neglect of a disabled person, in violation of OCGA § 16-5-101 (Counts Two through Four); nine counts of the abuse of a disabled person, in violation of OCGA § 16-5-102 (Counts Five through Thirteen); and three counts of the exploitation of a…”
Nuckles v. State, 853 S.E.2d 81 (Ga. 2020). · cites it 4× “3 Nuckles was subsequently indicted by a grand jury4 and charged with one count of depriving an elder person of essential services under OCGA § 16-5-102 and one count of concealing the death of another under OCGA § 16-10-31.”
John C. Huber v. State (Ga. Ct. App. 2023). · cites it 16× “(a) Count 4 of the indictment charged Huber with violating OCGA § 16-5-102 (a) in that he “did willfully inflict physical pain and injury upon Lillian Rock, a person 65 years of age or older by[ ] dragging her down stairs[.”
Emmitt C. Austin v. State (Ga. Ct. App. 2020). · cites it 14× “1 See OCGA § 16-5-102 (a). Viewed in the light most favorable to the jury’s verdict,2 the evidence shows the following.”
Kristopher Lee Cawthon v. State (Ga. Ct. App. 2019). · cites it 12× “OCGA § 16-5-102 (a) provides, in relevant part: Any person who knowingly and willfully exploits a disabled adult, elder person, or resident, willfully inflicts physical pain, physical injury, sexual abuse, mental anguish, or unreasonable confinement upon a disabled adult, elder…”
Georgiou Fam. Trust v. Ruthen (M.D. Ga. 2025). · cites it 10× “142 ¶¶ 174–78 (citing O.C.G.A. § 16-5-102)). Understandably relying on this, Jordan asserts a detailed (if misguided) argument that he didn’t violate the criminal statute.”
Sheila Bell Hawkins v. State (Ga. Ct. App. 2019). · cites it 10× “1 (Count One); three counts of neglect of a disabled person, in violation of OCGA § 16-5-101 (Counts Two through Four); nine counts of the abuse of a disabled person, in violation of OCGA § 16-5-102 (Counts Five through Thirteen); and three counts of the exploitation of a…”
Jimmy L. Taylor v. State (Ga. Ct. App. 2025). · cites it 8× “Taylor was charged by indictment with forty-four counts of exploitation of an elder person (OCGA § 16-5-102 (a)), twenty-two counts of practicing medicine without a license (OCGA § 43-34-22), one count of attempting to practice medicine without a license (OCGA § 16-4-1), and one…”
Kaitlin Poole v. State (Ga. Ct. App. 2023). · cites it 6× “”16 And in this case, Poole was indicted for theft by taking in that she, “being in lawful possession of cash and money and a Silver Ford F- 150 truck, the property of [the victim], with a value of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000.”
Jatony Dupree v. State (Ga. Ct. App. 2025). · cites it 6× “After a jury trial, Jatony Dupree was convicted of exploitation and intimidation of a disabled adult (OCGA § 16-5-102 (a)); aggravated assault (OCGA § 16-5-21); violation of the Georgia Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act (OCGA § 16-15-1 et.”
Rhymer v. Clayton Cnty. Sheriffs Off. (N.D. Ga. 2023). · cites it 4× “§ 51-7-22; • Count IX, exploitation or intimidation of disabled adult, O.C.G.A. § 16-5-102; • Count X, trafficking of disabled adult, O.”
Show all 19 citing cases →
— 16-5-102(a) — 3 cases
Georgiou Fam. Trust v. Ruthen (M.D. Ga. 2025). “142 ¶¶ 174–78 (citing O.C.G.A. § 16-5-102)). Understandably relying on this, Jordan asserts a detailed (if misguided) argument that he didn’t violate the criminal statute.”
Terrell Edmondson v. State (Ga. Ct. App. 2026).
Edouard Kamdem v. State (Ga. Ct. App. 2026).
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.