September 19, 2025
Tony Nataniel Hasty, Jr., 41, will spend the next twenty years in the state penitentiary for crimes
against a child. Superior Court Judge Suzanne H. Smith sentenced Mr. Hasty on Thursday,
September 18 to an 80-year sentence with the first twenty years to be served in confinement. A
Gordon County jury found Hasty guilty on August 22 of one count of Criminal Attempt to
Commit Sexual Battery and four counts of Child Molestation. The five-day trial took place in
Courtroom A of the Gordon County Courthouse.
The investigation was conducted by the Gordon County Sheriff’s Office. Detectives obtained
evidence that Hasty committed unlawful sexual acts on the child while living in a Gordon
County residence with the child’s family. Evidence presented at trial included inappropriate text
messages between Hasty and the child. The jury considered the child’s testimony during the trial
and saw a recording of the forensic interview conducted by personnel at the Gordon County
Child Advocacy Center.
Assistant District Attorneys Zachary C. Guder and Panashe Nhekairo prosecuted the case for the
State. Brian McWhorter of Rome represented Hasty. The State asked the Court to sentence
Hasty as a recidivist, an enhancement to penalties for repeat offenders. The Court granted the
State’s request for recidivist treatment because of Mr. Hasty’s three prior felony convictions in
Douglas and Paulding Counties. Hasty was ordered to register as a sex offender as part of the
sentence.
“These are the most heart-breaking cases,” said Cherokee Judicial Circuit District Attorney Erle
J. Newton III. “No child should ever be subjected to these immoral acts. Our hearts go out to
this victim and every child who is similarly victimized. We are grateful for our partners at the
Sheriff’s Office and at the Child Advocacy Center. Without them and their dedicated work, and
the strength and determination of the victim, we would not have gotten justice.”
