(Lawrenceville, Ga., 11/21/25) – A Snellville man will go to prison for inappropriately touching two girls and two women at a Lawrenceville swimming pool.

William Michael Hegwood, 70, was found guilty of felony sexual battery against a child under the age of 16 and two counts of misdemeanor sexual battery for the April 2024 incident. He was sentenced to five years in prison and two years of probation.

“This is depraved behavior,” District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said. “It is important that people feel safe to enjoy our public facilities. Predators like this defendant will be brought to justice.”

On April 7, 2024, a 12-year-old girl swimming in the lazy river at a local aquatic center told her mother that a man she did not know grabbed her upper thigh while she was in the pool with her sister. The mother saw the defendant intentionally touch another girl inappropriately and reported him to the lifeguard.

Another woman came to the lifeguard as the mother was making her complaint to report that the defendant followed her in the lazy river and touched her buttocks. The second woman’s 14-year-old daughter also told the lifeguard that the man reached into her bathing suit. Gwinnett County Police officers were called, and when they arrived at the aquatic center a third woman told officers that the man touched her thigh twice.

Special Victims Unit Assistant District Attorney Mikaela Henderson and Assistant District Attorney Kathy Li prosecuted the case with assistance from SVU Investigator Lashonda Williams and SVU Victim Witness Advocate Rocio Pineda. Gwinnett County Police Department was also instrumental in closing the case.