Thomas Hoyt TuckerPolice say the 90-year-old man knew exactly what he was doing when he invited a teenage girl into his bedroom.
Chattooga County Sheriff Mark Schrader said that Thomas Hoyt Tucker, of Summerville, Ga., sat on his bed on June 16 and hollered at his 14-year-old relative. Tucker asked her to look out the window and make sure his wife was still outside.
Then, Schrader said, Tucker asked the girl to meet him in his room.
"You got something pretty I'd like to see," Tucker told her, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
He then hugged her, grabbing her bottom and groping her breasts. Schrader said the girl told Tucker she didn't like what he was doing, and he let her go. She then told another family member about the incident, Schrader said, and that person called the sheriff's office.
According to investigators, Tucker's actions were not the result of a mental slip. Schrader said Tucker told detectives that his "mind was right."
"He mentioned something about wanting to see her breasts," Schrader said.
The sheriff did not know the specific relationship between Tucker and the victim. He said the girl was visiting Tucker. Schrader was unsure whether she visited him often.
The sheriff's office arrested him June 27 on a charge of sexual battery, a crime that could put Tucker in prison until he's 95 years old.
Schrader said Tucker was later released on a $5,000 bond.
Contact staff writer Tyler Jett at tjett@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476.