AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – A former Augusta child psychologist convicted in a high-profile sex crimes case is set to be released from state prison on Thursday.
Dr. Kenneth Francis McPherson, 74, has completed the court-ordered five-year confinement portion of his sentence. Under the terms of his 2022 conviction, he must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
However, an investigation by 12 On Your Side has uncovered that under Georgia state policy, McPherson is scheduled to walk out of prison without a pre-approved, pre-vetted residential address on file.
A decade on bond, then a conviction
When 12 On Your Side Investigates first looked into McPherson’s case in 2021, he had been out on bond for more than a decade with no trial date scheduled, despite two grand juries indicting him in 2011 on seven felony counts of child molestation involving young patients.
Shortly after our reporting questioned the years of delays, the case finally moved forward in Richmond County Superior Court…