An appeal from the Circuit Court for Rutherford County was filed in Nashville by a man indicted by a Rutherford County Grand Jury on five counts of sexual battery by an authority figure. After Baleke Kromah’s original court appearance, he was convicted of count three and was acquitted of the remaining counts and sentenced to 90-days of imprisonment and 4-years of probation.

Kromah was accused of sexually assaulting a teenage family member. Court records show with the help of a detective at the Smyrna Police Department in 2009, the teen confronted Kromah on the phone about the alleged sexual assaults. The call was recorded and later played for the jury. The court papers show, “Kromah argues that the evidence was insufficient to sustain his conviction because it failed to show that the act of touching the teenagers breasts, if it in fact occurred, was done for the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification.”

At the conclusion of the Appeal, the judgment of the trial court was affirmed on Friday (3/1/13). The documents stated, "we conclude that there was sufficient evidence to convict Kromah of sexual battery by an authority figure."

Source:

TN Court of Criminal Appeals
No. M2011-01813-CCA-R3-CD Filed - March 01, 2013