Henderson Resigns After Plea Deal on Battery, Oath Charges

TOWNS COUNTY, Ga. — Suspended Towns County Sheriff Kenneth Henderson resigned from office Monday after accepting a negotiated plea deal in Towns County Superior Court that resolved criminal charges linked to a 2024 clash with another law enforcement officer and a separate transaction involving the sale of personal property to the sheriff’s office.

Appalachian Judicial Circuit District Attorney Frank Wood said Henderson entered guilty pleas to simple battery against a police officer (a high and aggravated misdemeanor), violation of oath of office, and sale of personal property. Court records and reports of the hearing also indicated a no-contest plea on the battery and oath counts in some accounts of the proceedings.

The court accepted a sentence of 10 years of probation, which can end after five years, along with a $1,000 fine. Henderson was sentenced under Georgia’s First Offender Act. If he completes the probation successfully, the conviction can be erased from his record. As part of the agreement, he resigned immediately, is prohibited from running for any political office while on probation, and must have no contact with Hiawassee Police Officer José Carvajal.

The battery and oath charges grew out of a Dec. 13, 2024, incident at the scene of a deputy-involved shooting. Body-camera video later obtained by Atlanta News First Investigates showed Henderson confronting and detaining Carvajal after the officer picked up the wounded deputy’s firearm while trying to help. Henderson accused the officer of evidence tampering. Carvajal was handcuffed and held in a patrol car before being released without charges. Authorities later determined the deputy had shot himself. An earlier grand jury indictment related to the episode was dismissed on procedural grounds; a subsequent grand jury returned similar charges.

The property charge stemmed from Henderson selling a personal item — identified in reports as a side-by-side vehicle — to the Towns County Sheriff’s Office. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested him in July after an audit uncovered a check paid to him from a sheriff’s office account. The plea agreement closes both cases.

Henderson, 67, of Young Harris, had been suspended twice by Gov. Brian Kemp during the investigations. He offered no comment in court. Carvajal, addressing the matter publicly for the first time, told the court the sheriff had “disparaged” him and described Henderson as “a disgrace to the badge.”

The resolution ends the criminal proceedings against the former sheriff. It was not immediately clear whether additional internal reviews of the department would follow.