Name of Accused:
COOPER, KENDELL AMARI WESLEY
Date of Arrest:
08/14/2024
Charges For Arrest:
Computer or Electronic Pornography
Child Exploitation
Officer’s Narrative:
[Please note: The following is a direct transcription from the official initial incident report. The Georgia Gazette does not fix any spelling or grammatical errors that may exist. Any changes or redactions made by our staff are placed inside brackets. Some errors may exist. All subjects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The topics discussed may be sensitive to some readers. Discretion is advised.]
On 8/14/2024
, I responded to 316 Columbia Drive (The Foundry) [REDACTED] in reference to an adult male reportedly asking a juvenile female to have sex with him. Upon arrival, I made with the complainant, [REDACTED], and her granddaughter, [REDACTED], outside of [REDACTED].
[REDACTED] told me she likes to take walks after she gets from school. [REDACTED] said she was taking her walk sometime after 1700 hours. [REDACTED] said she walked from her building over to the [REDACTED] building. [REDACTED] said she walked past a blue car with a male in it. [REDACTED] said she started to get a feeling like she should go , so she turned around and started walking back. [REDACTED] said as she passed the blue car again, the male inside got out. [REDACTED] said he was a black male wearing a black shirt/black pants and a reflective vest. [REDACTED] said the male, later identified as Kendell Cooper, said he heard she was looking to buy a dog. [REDACTED] said she spoke with Kendell for a moment and exchanged phone numbers with him before walking away. [REDACTED] said while they were speaking, Kendell touched his genitals several times. [REDACTED] said it seemed like he was doing it intentionally and not just adjusting himself.
[REDACTED] said it was not long before Kendell started texting and calling her. [REDACTED] said she did not ask Kendell for money, but he started offering it to her. [REDACTED] said she believed Kendell was 23 years old, and she told him that she was 14 years old (because she was going to be soon). [REDACTED] said even though she told Kendell this, their conversation soon turned sexual. [REDACTED] said Kendell texted her about giving him “head” (which means oral sex). [REDACTED] said Kendell also told her on phone calls that he would not get her pregnant if they did have sex.
[REDACTED] allowed me to look at the text conversation on her phone. The conversation was with the phone number [REDACTED]. The first text was from Kendell at 1746 hours, introducing himself as “Coop.” Kendell asks how much money she needs and then immediately asks how old [REDACTED] is. [REDACTED] says she is 14 and that she needs at least $50.00. Kendell then says “oh okay… I was gon see if u was tryna do sum for the 50 but i didn’t know how old u was.” [REDACTED] asks what Kendell meant and he replies, “it was some freaky sh*t but i thought you was older.” Without [REDACTED] asking, Kendell then says “I was gon asked if u wanted to give me head or do sum for the 50 that’s what i was gon ask.” [REDACTED] then asks what apartment Kendell lives in and that she will come and give him “head.” Kendell replies with “ion want u tellin nobody tho.” [REDACTED] doesn’t reply again but Kendell asks her to call him and then asks how far away she is. [REDACTED] also had several missed calls from Kendell, and he was continuing to call her as I was photographing the texts.
I asked [REDACTED] why she offered to perform oral sex with Kendell and she said she sent that after [REDACTED] had already called 911. [REDACTED] said she sent that to find out what apartment Kendell was in.
After reading the conversation, it appeared to me that Kendell was aware that [REDACTED] was a minor and that she needed money. It appeared that Kendell continuously asked leading questions to tell [REDACTED] that he was willing to give her money in exchange for sexual acts. Kendell then also explicitly agreed to have sex with [REDACTED] when she suggested it, as long as she did not tell anyone about it. This indicated to me that Kendell knew what he was doing was wrong, and did not want to get caught.
I then went to apartment [REDACTED] and made with Kendell at the front door. I asked Kendell if he had seen or talked to a teenage girl around 1700-1800 hours. Kendell said yes, and told me she was walking around asking for money to buy a dog. I asked Kendell if he exchanged phone numbers with her and he told me no. I asked Kendell if I could see his texts and call log. Kendell showed me and I saw no texts or calls from [REDACTED] number. Kendell then showed me his phone number, and I confirmed that it was the same number that had been texting/calling [REDACTED]. I then told Kendell that I had seen messages from his phone number on [REDACTED] phone. Kendell then changed his story and told me she asked for his number, but he declined when she told him her age (which he said was 16).
After Kendell was told there were cameras in the complex, he confirmed that he actually did exchange numbers with [REDACTED]. Kendell then confirmed that he exchanged texts with [REDACTED], so I asked him what they were about. Kendell told me [REDACTED] texted him asking for money and when he would have money. Kendell was informed that I had seen the messages between them, and that they were inappropriate. Kendell said when he got back to his room, [REDACTED] called him and told him he was cute, but that was as far as it went because of her age. Kendell said he told her he was 20 years old and that it “wasn’t right” because of her age.
After being pressed about the inappropriate conversation, Kendell said [REDACTED] began offering to perform sexual acts on him for money. Kendell said he probably should have blocked her at that point, but he allowed the conversation to continue into texting. Kendell said [REDACTED] told him she was 14 over text, and after this he blocked her, which is why he did not have the messages/calls. However, this was not true because there were texts after this, and Kendell was even calling [REDACTED] while I was standing with her.
I then proceeded to show Kendell the photos I took of their text conversation. I read the texts off to Kendell, and he nodded along and confirmed he recognized the conversation. When I got to the part where [REDACTED] said she would give him “head” and Kendell replied that he did not want her to tell anyone, Kendell agreed with me that a reasonable person would view that interaction as strange and inappropriate. When Kendell was asked what he meant when he said he did not want [REDACTED] to tell anyone, Kendell said he meant he did not want anyone to see the entire interaction because it was “weird.” However, Kendell had texted a few minutes after that asking [REDACTED] how far out she was from him.
Kendell admitted to being aware that [REDACTED] was a juvenile and willfully sent sexual messages to her anyway. When [REDACTED] offered to perform oral sex on Kendell, he told her he did not want her to tell anyone and then asked how far away she was. Kendell changed his story several times when I revealed to him what I knew, indicating that he was intentionally being deceptive and knew what he did was wrong.
I asked Kendell if he would be willing to ride with me to the Carrollton PD for an interview with an investigator. Kendell said yes. I transported him there and waited with him for an investigator.
After the interview, it was determined that Kendell had committed a criminal act. Kendell was transported to the Carroll County Jail and charged with: OCGA 16-12-100.2 (d)(1) Computer or Electronic Pornography and Child Exploitation
[REDACTED] wished to prosecute.
[End of Narrative]