A Haddock man was arrested in Eatonton last week on child molestation charges.
Michael Talton Lee Barnes, 24, of Haddock, was charged with four counts of child molestation and one count of enticing a child for indecent purposes, according to a notice by GBI Special Agent in Charge Mary Chandler.
Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills said he received a call from Maj. Brad King of the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office said on Friday that warrants had been obtained for Barnes’ arrest, and BCSO and GBI authorities were coming to Putnam County to arrest him.
Sills said Barnes has a Jones County address, but at the time, he was staying at a family member’s house in Forest Lake Village in Putnam County.
Barnes was a P.E. teacher at Georgia Military College, and the GMC Police Department had requested the GBI to investigate allegations that Barnes had inappropriate sexual contact with a minor, Chandler said in her report.
“The investigation is active and ongoing,” she said. “Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the GBI regional investigative office in Milledgeville at 478-4454173. Anonymous tips can be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS (9477).”
Barnes is currently booked at the Baldwin County Jail. Once the investigation is complete, the case file will be turned over to the Towaliga Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.
Chandler said no related incidents happened in the Towaliga circuit area, but Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit District Attorney T. Wright Barksdale requested the case be given to the Towaliga DA.