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Thursday, February 29,20241 GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA I gainesvilletimes.com
Warehouse proposal in Buford has foes
BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
South Hall resident Susan
Zanders said she has seen the
warehouses up and down nearby
McEver Road and can't stomach a
nearly 750,000-square-foot office/
warehouse complex coming less
than a mile from her home.
“I'm concerned on many fronts.
I'm concerned about traffic,” she
said. “That roundabout is kind of
like a free-for-all and when you
put tractor-trailers on there, that's a
huge concern.”
Also, “when you think about
Buford Board of Commissioners
What: Proposed 750,000-square-foot warehouse complex
When: 7 p.m. Monday, March 4
Where: Buford City Hall, 2300 Buford Highway
potential runoff into the lake
that is our drinking water, it just
seems such a waste to be putting
warehouses there.”
Zanders has started a petition to
try to stop the proposed warehouses
off Lanier Islands Parkway, about a
couple miles west of Lanier Islands
resort.
She said she plans to present
it to the Buford Board of
Commissioners on Monday, March
4. The petition had 746 signatures
as of Wednesday, Leb. 28, with a
goal of 1,000.
The issue has otherwise created a
stir on social media, as opposition
appears to be mounting to Atlanta-
based TC Atlanta Development
Inc.'s request to build the complex
at 6207 Lanier Islands Parkway and
3041 Big Creek Road.
See Warehouse 13A
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A large office/
warehouse
proposed in
Buford is being
met with disdain
by nearby
residents.
Jeff Gill
The Times
Nearing the conclusion
Scott Rogers The Times
Christopher Young appears for trial in Hall County Superior Court Tuesday, Feb. 27, for aggravated child
molestation charges.
Ex-substitute teacher s trial enters jury deliberations
BY BEN ANDERSON
banderson@gainesvilletimes.com
Jurors deliberated
for about three hours
Wednesday, Leb. 28, in
the trial of a 24-year-old
Gainesville man charged
with sexually assaulting a
15-year-old girl while he
was a substitute teacher
at East Hall High School
and she was a student.
Deliberations will resume
Thursday morning.
Christopher Young
was arrested in July 2022
and charged with one
count of aggravated child
molestation and two counts
of aggravated sexual
battery. If found guilty by a
jury on any of the charges,
he faces a minimum of 25
years in prison.
Closing statements
on Wednesday saw the
prosecution and defense
speak at length about the
credibility of the girl's
testimony the day before.
Through tears, the girl
testified that she did not
consent to engaging in
sexual acts with Young,
saying, “I told him I didn't
like it and that it hurt and
he didn't stop until he
was finished,” adding that
she only did so because
“scared.”
Defense attorney Bill
Olsen accused the girl of
lying.
He did not deny that his
client engaged in sexual
acts with the girl—Young
admitted as much to
investigators, and the jurors
were shown graphic video
proof. But he argued that
the girl fully consented,
as evidenced by the fact
that she continued to
communicate with Young
after the alleged assaults,
including by sending
him nude photographs of
herself.
“(The girl) describes
the event at the gazebo
where Chris ordered her
around, told her he didn't
care how she felt. Raped
her. Yet after this she keeps
communicating with him,
sends her nudes,” Olsen
said to jurors.
The question of consent
does not bear on the
charge of aggravated child
molestation — any act of
sodomy on a person under
the age of 16 suffices. As
Assistant District Attorney
Rachel Bennett put it in her
closing argument, “the law
is the law.”
Throughout the trial,
the defense argued that the
girl was mature beyond
her years and criticized the
prosecution for trying to
“create this evil narrative of
a sexual predator grooming
(the girl) at this high
school.”
Olsen repeatedly noted
that the girl was just weeks
shy of her 16th birthday.
Young told investigators
that he believed the girl was
16.
But Bennett pushed
back, telling jurors,
“As to aggravated child
molestation, I can make
this one really simple for
you, because we all just
saw this video. I made you
watch it, and I genuinely
apologize about that, but
this is important, and I
wanted you to see the
act of sodomy that was
committed in count one.”
Bennett added: “Whether
she's two weeks, one day or
nine months away from her
16th birthday, what he did
was illegal.”
But the question of
consent does bear directly
on the aggravated sexual
battery charges. In order
to prove that Young
committed aggravated
See Young 13A
Woman files
lawsuit, claims
officer raped
her in prison
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
A woman filed a federal lawsuit
Leb. 20 claiming a Lee Arrendale
State Prison correctional officer
raped her, causing injuries so severe
that she required surgery, according
to court documents.
The woman filed under the
pseudonym Jane Doe against
Cameron Cheeks. Cheeks is
sued personally, and the Georgia
Department of Corrections is not a defendant.
Cheeks was arrested in December 2022 on charges
of rape and violation of oath of office.
In December 2022, the woman was serving a
sentence at the Alto prison.
Cheeks was assigned to the unit where the woman
was housed, and she did not have a cellmate at the
time, according to the lawsuit.
On Dec. 5, 2022, Cheeks approached the woman
and told her it was time for a shower.
“After telling plaintiff that it was time for her
shower, Cheeks moved her to a location where he
violently and forcibly raped her,” according to the
lawsuit.
The lawsuit claimed the assault was so brutal
“that Doe needed to have and did receive surgery for
partial uterus removal.”
“Doe has been greatly injured physically and
mentally and will continue to suffer from the
natural consequences of such violent misconduct,”
according to the lawsuit.
Cheeks has remained in the Habersham County
Detention Center since his arrest.
No attorney was listed for Cheeks for the federal
lawsuit as of Wednesday, Leb. 28.
Leanna Elrod, who is representing Cheeks in the
criminal case, did not return a request for comment.
The Times reached out to the district attorney,
George Christian, for the status of the criminal
charges. The plaintiff's attorney, Wingo Smith, said
the case was still pending to his knowledge.
Smith, who is working the case with attorney
Jeff Lilipovits, said their client is not currently
incarcerated but did not want to disclose too much
information to protect her anonymity.
Smith said under Georgia law, there are only a few
circumstances that you can sue the state. Otherwise,
the government is immune from claims.
“This case is just one of those cases in which the
actions alleged would not be available under the
state tort claims act,” Smith said.
Two candidates vie for Lula’s District 3 council seat
BY BRIAN WELLMEIER
bwellmeier@gainesvilletimes.com
Two longtime Lula residents
have qualified to run for the city's
District 3 council seat in the May
21 special election. The seat was
vacated by former councilman
Gene Bramlett in December after
fellow council members voted 3-0
to expel him from office.
In the upcoming race, Lula
farmer Chris Lewallen will take
on handyman Lelton Wood,
who could not be reached for an
interview despite multiple calls and
text messages from The Times.
A lifelong Lula resident,
Lewallen has watched the
city evolve since he was
a child. Decades ago, his
father once served on Lula
City Council for two or
three terms when Lewallen
was a teenager. He said he
remembers when the city
of almost 3,000 had less
than 900 residents.
“A lot of people want to say
Lula is a small town, but to me, it's
not,” Lewallen said. “It was 700-
800 people when I was growing
up...the population has basically
quadrupled in my lifetime.”
Now 56, Lewallen and his wife,
Sandie, have raised three sons on
a 30-acre farm the couple
still live on today.
Lewallen said his
inspiration to run for
District 3 was sparked just
a few years ago. He said it
came after he attended a
city council meeting and
found he was unversed on
city business - that while
he “had never left Lula,” as he put
it, “Lula had kind of left me.”
Lor the next three years Lewallen
familiarized himself with local
issues, acquainted various leaders
in city government and sometimes
spoke at council meetings.
In March of last year, Lewallen
told his wife he
planned to run
for the seat when
Bramlett’s term
expired. But
that opportunity
came early
Wood after the former
councilman's
removal, and
Lewallen “felt it was time.”
“Because of Bramlett and all the
issues, I want to restore trust and
honorability to the District 4 seat,”
Lewallen said.
In the coming years, Lula is
expected to become an epicenter
for growth and development for its
proximity to the Northeast Georgia
Inland Port. Still, while “everybody
says (growth) is coming,” Lewallen
said he believes “growth is already
here.”
He said he favors a measured
approach to development
that maintains and preserves
Lula's small town character in
conjunction with governance that
also accommodates inevitable
growth, and that zoning requests
along the Ga. 365 corridor should
be considered on a case-by-case
basis.
See Election 13A
Lewallen
Wood
