'Bully with a badge' sentenced to prison for abusing women

MACON, Ga. (AP) -- A former Bibb County sheriff's deputy has been sentenced to 10 years behind bars after multiple women he had dated accused him of physical abuse.

The Telegraph of Macon reports 35-year-old Jeffery Brian Prestridge pleaded guilty to assault and child cruelty charges Wednesday.

Calling the ex-deputy a "bully with a badge," Superior Court Judge Howard Simms gave Prestridge a 20-year sentence, with half of that time to be served in prison.

Prosecutor Nancy Scott Malcor said Prestridge's ex-girlfriends described similar allegations of being choked in an arm hold, struck, kicked and having their lives threatened.

Prestridge was hired by the former Macon Police Department in 2013 and became a Bibb County deputy after the police department and sheriff's office merged in 2014. He was fired after his February arrest.

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