4-1-2010 Georgia:
A Dalton police officer who committed suicide last year just hours after being accused of raping a woman has been cleared of all wrongdoing, authorities said Wednesday.
Robert Paul Sparks, 54, was in the Dalton Police Services Center on Jones Street when he shot himself near daybreak on the Saturday morning of Jan. 10, 2009. While on duty earlier that morning, he had responded to a Whitfield 911 call at 1:30 a.m. of two women fighting at the Oyster Bar at 2206 Chattanooga Road, and went with one of the women, Frankie Diane Cross, to her room at the Guest Inn behind the restaurant to retrieve her identification. Sparks was accused by Cross of rape in a call to 911 at 3:22 a.m.
District Attorney Kermit McManus said the police department asked him to evaluate the completed Georgia Bureau of Investigation report, and he found “insufficient evidence” to prove Sparks “engaged in criminal sexual activity.” He also said there was not enough evidence to charge Cross with making false statements, although it was “clear,” he said, that she made statements that are “false as they are inconsistent with other statements made.”
Vivian Sparks, the mother of Paul Sparks, said the death of her son and ensuing investigation have been “awful” for her family to bear.
“Before, it just seemed he was guilty before anybody knew any of the circumstances,” she said of the lengthy investigation. “Even though he’s been found (to have done) no wrongdoing, nothing’s going to be done to her. I think that is wrong that no one is held responsible.”
Sparks said the wait for the findings has been “terrible” for her and especially her 27-year-old grandson, Sparks’ son.
