The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Serial molester gets 25 more years in Cobb
Kennesaw man once was a principal and a pastor, Cobb DA says.
A Kennesaw man already serving 20 years for child molestation was sentenced to 25 more years for similar crimes in Cobb County, the District Attorney’s Office said Thursday.
Kevin Owen Dean, 70, pleaded guilty Wednesday to eight counts of child molestation and three counts of
aggravated child molestation for acts committed beginning in 2000 when the girl was 4 years old, the DA’S office said. Dean abused the girl until she was 14, according to investigators, and the molestation escalated over the years.
In 2010, the victim disclosed the abuse, and her mother contacted Cobb police. In a forensic interview, the teen told investigators Dean had abused her at two residences in Cobb and at his Marietta office, the DA’S office said.
Dean initially denied everything but eventually admitted to investigators that he had shown pornography to the victim and given and received oral sex with her, according to prosecutors. Dean also stated he was a former teacher and should have known better.
At Dean’s home, investigators found toys and videos the victim had described. In September 2010, Dean was charged with numerous counts of child molestation and sexual battery, records show.
When the investigation revealed Dean also abused the victim in a Cartersville office, he was also charged in Bartow County.
In 2012 while awaiting trial in both counties, Dean cut off his ankle monitor and fled the country, the Cobb DA’S office said. He evaded capture for seven years until U.S. marshals caught up with him in Mexico in 2019, and he was returned to the United States.
Later that year, Dean pleaded guilty to child molestation in Bartow. He has been serving that sentence at Jenkins Correctional Facility, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections.
Since the allegations against Dean went public, three other women have said he molested them in the 1980s in California. Dean was then a church pastor, a principal, and ran a summer camp, according to the Cobb DA’S office.
The victims addressed the court Wednesday before Dean was sentenced, with one of the California victims calling the Cobb victim “a hero” for speaking up.
Cobb Superior Court Judge Ann Harris sentenced Dean to 25 years to serve in prison without the possibility of parole, plus life on probation.
“We are thankful for the bravery of the victims who came forward to finally hold Kevin Dean accountable and to ensure he will never hurt another child again,” Senior ADA Lindsay Raynor said.