A local police officer currently serving time in prison will have to register as a sex offender when he is released, even though he was not convicted of a crime specifically defined

as a sexual offense, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled on Monday.

Paul Wiggins Jr., a former Rome police officer, claimed the Floyd County

court’s requirement that he register as a sex offender as a condition of his probation was an illegal sentence.

However, in the court’s unanimous decision, Justice Robert Benham said the jury found Wiggins had committed a sexual offense against a minor, “when it found appellant guilty of the crime of cruelty to children, which was described in the indictment as maliciously causing a child under the age of 18 cruel and excessive mental pain through sexual contact.”

The ruling stemmed from Wiggins’ 2003 conviction when he was found guilty of child cruelty, false writings and violation of his oath of office in relation to an incident in which he had sex with a 16-year-old girl on his patrol car.

He was acquitted of rape, sodomy, sexual battery and false imprisonment.

In the summer of 2003, Wiggins was dispatched to a hotel in Rome when a manager reported that some teenagers were having a party. The 16-year-old girl was among six people found in the room.

According to court testimony, Wiggins vouched for the girl, saying he knew her father. But instead of taking the girl home, Wiggins drove her to a nearby park where he had sex with her on the hood of his police car.

Afterward, the girl drove to the home of friends, who testified she was “crying” and told them she’d been raped.

Wiggins claimed the sex was consensual.

He appealed to both the Georgia Court of Appeals, which upheld his convictions, and the Georgia Supreme Court, which upheld all but the false writings conviction.

Wiggins argued that having to register as a sex offender for life violated his civil rights and was cruel and unusual punishment.

The high court rejected Wiggins’ constitutional challenges, citing its earlier decision this year in Hollie v. State, in which it ruled that lifetime registration is required by the sex offender registration statute and does not exceed the maximum penalty for the crimes a defendant was convicted of.

Floyd County District Attorney Leigh Patterson said she is pleased with the high court’s decision.

“I am glad the court upheld that he is a sex offender and that registering isn’t cruel or unusual,” Patterson said.

Wiggins is currently serving a 15-year sentence and will have to register as a sex offender upon his release.

Staff writer John Bailey contributed to this report.