An Eatonton man is in Putnam County jail after being picked up by U.S. Marshals at the request of Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills for the Eatonton Police Department.
Marcus Maurice Love, 42, is facing an assortment of accusations of family violence and child molestation charges, Putnam County jail records reveal.
According to Eatonton Police Chief Howell Cardwell, an Eatonton mother reported earlier in June that one of her daughters had been sexually assaulted by her father or stepfather.
Cardwell set up an appointment at the Bright House in Milledgeville for the girl and the other children of the household. The Bright House, named in honor of the late former Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit District Attorney Fred Bright, provides specialized services to victims who have experienced sexual assault or child abuse.
Cardwell turned the case over to Eatonton Police Officer Rebecca Meeks, who handles all of the police department’s cases at the Bright House.
“I want to recognize what a great job Officer Meeks did,” Cardwell said. “She wound up making several trips to the Bright House, even on her days off, and she also worked to get seven warrants. She put in a lot of time and effort to solve this case and did a great job.”
Six children lived in the household, and during interviews at the Bright House, they all reported different levels and types of sexual behavior or severe physical abuse from Love, who is the natural father to some of the children and stepfather to others, Meeks said.
“A medical exam at the Bright House revealed evidence of trauma,” she added, regarding the sexual assault incident.
Following the interviews and collection of evidence at the child advocacy center and the issuance of warrants for Love’s arrest, the family moved out of the house and to another area of the state.
According to Cardwell, Love reportedly checked himself into a treatment center in the Macon area.
“That’s what we were told,” Cardwell explained. “But we didn’t know where he was, so Sills notified the Marshal’s office in Macon and they found him and I sent an officer to pick him up.”
Marcus Maurice Love, of Godfrey Road, Eatonton, is being held without bond in Putnam jail on charges of aggravated sodomy family violence, child molestation family violence, incest family violence, rape family violence, and three counts of cruelty to children first-degree family violence.
Victims of child abuse or those of any age who have been sexually assaulted in Middle Georgia may receive help by calling a 24-hour crisis line at 770-477-2177.