Former Hart County Commissioner Oglesby arrested for child pornography

By MJ Kneiser, WLHR

Former Hart County Commissioner RC Oglesby is in trouble with the law again in Hartwell.

Oglesby was arrested Thursday by Hartwell Police on charges of child pornography, according to Hartwell Assistant Police Chief Stan Sayer.

“When we were investigating the RICO case, we were assisting the GBI with an execution of a search warrant on November 7, 2019. And during the search warrant his phone was seized,” he said. “And it was taken to the (GBI) Cyber Center and they found child pornography on it. One image of child pornography so far, and he was charged with sexual exploitation of a child.”

Sayer said Oglesby bonded out Thursday on the charges.

Sayer said this latest charge is not related to the charges Oglesby faces under the RICO Act.

In November 2019, Oglesby, his son Steven, and several other family members were arrested on 45 counts of violating the federal RICO Act and were indicted the following February.

The indictment charged Oglesby with 13 counts of theft by shoplifting, alleging he stole items on numerous confirmed occasions from the Walmart in Hart County.

Most of the items stolen were food products, such as cases of Little Debbie oatmeal cakes, packages of bacon and sausage, bottles of water, soft drinks, and energy drinks, as well as canned goods.

Oglesby was also accused of buying EBT cards for pennies on the dollar from legitimate owners of those cards, then using them to buy food for his wife’s restaurant, Ludi’s, located next to the car wash, and for the cafeteria food at Tenneco.

Last fall, Governor Brian Kemp suspended him from his office as County Commissioner for District 1 after a special review committee appointed by the Governor found that the indictment of R.C. Oglesby does relate to and does adversely affect the administration of the office of Commissioner, that the rights and interests of the public are adversely affected.

Oglesby ran for re-election as an independent last November to try and retain his seat as Commissioner but lost to Mike Bennett.

GBI spokeswoman Nelly Miles tells WLHR News agents are continuing to work on this case and more information will be released once it is available.