A Glynn County man who once ran for the state House of Representatives was indicted Wednesday on two counts of aggravated child molestation and two counts of child molestation.
The September term of the Glynn County Grand Jury indicted Harry T. Lyde Jr. of Glynn County on the four counts, three involving the same alleged victim.
Under Georgia law, aggravated
r
child molestation involves physical injury to a victim or sodomy. The indictment of Lyde alleges sodomy.
The indictment said the alleged events took place on or before Dec. 28, 2003. Both alleged victims were under the age of 16 at the time of the
alleged offenses, according to the indictment.
When contacted Thursday by The News at a cell phone with a north Georgia area code, Lyde said he was unaware of the indictment and said the allegations surprised him. The indictment listed no address for Lyde.
Ladell Jackson, a Glynn County Police Department detective who is conducting the investigation, said Lyde was made aware of the allegations in October 2004, when the investigation began.
Jackson said an alleged victim made the allegations at that time after first relating them to a friend of the family.
He said the two then went to the police department, giving officers a reason to investigate the alle
gat
ions against Lyde.
Jackson said it is common for an investigation to take more than a year. He said the investigation of the allegations against Lyde is ongoing.
In the 2002 race for state representative, Lyde, a Green Party candidate, waged a failed campaign against incumbent state Rep. Jerry Keen, R-St. Simo
ns Island.
