Crime & Safety

Man Sentenced In Attack On Teen

Joseph Raymond Zeock was found guilty last week by a Cherokee County jury.

A man has been sentenced to 19 years in prison for an attack on a teenager last year in a Woodstock hotel.

Joseph Raymond Zeock was found guilty on four counts stemming from an attack on a 17-year-old boy last year that left the teen with second and third-degree burns on his backside. Zeock will serve 19 years behind bars, but will serve another 21 on probation.Β 

Along with the prison sentence, Zeock is to have no contact with the victim or witnesses in the case. He also is restricted from having contact with anyone under the age of 30 or can not live with or be in a room alone with anyone under the age of 30.

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A Cherokee County jury last week found Joseph Raymond Zeock guilty on four counts stemming from the attack: aggravated battery, aggravated assault, cruelty to children in the first degree and soliciting a minor for sodomy. Zeock was acquitted by the jury on the charge of false imprisonment.

Zeock, who originally pled not guilty to all five counts, was sentenced on Wednesday by Cherokee County Chief Superior Court Judge Frank C. Mills III.Β 

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Woodstock police were called around 9 p.m. July 12, 2011, to Grady Memorial Hospital and found the victim, who stated Zeock bound, gagged and set him on fire at the Suburban Lodge at 106 Woodpark Boulevard. The incident occurred between the overnight hours of Sunday, July 10 and Monday, July 11.

The teen said Zeock promised him money in return for certain sex acts and it was during one of those acts that the incident occurred.Β 

Woodstock Police asked for the public's help in identifying Zeock and the suspect was later arrested by Norcross police after a citizen was tipped off by a news story about the incident.


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