Grand Jury hands down indictments in Stephens County

An Anderson man has been indicted in Stephens County on one count of Enticing a child for indecent purposes, one count of criminal attempt to commit enticing a child for indecent purposes, one count of pandering for person under 18, and one count of criminal attempt to commit pandering for person under 18.

The Stephens County Grand Jury indicted Charles Talmadge Whitworth earlier this week with the aforementioned charges.

According to the indictment, the charges of Enticing a child for indecent purposes and criminal attempt to commit enticing a child for indecent purposes stem from an incident that took place between April 24, 2020, and July 14, 2020.

The charges of pandering for person under 18 and criminal attempt to commit pandering for person under 18 stem from an incident that occurred between July 21, 2020, and July 28, 2020.

As WNEG News initially reported in August 2020, the Stephens County Sheriff’s Office began their investigation after a parent contacted investigators advising that an adult male was contacting their daughter, who was under the age of 18, using a social media site.

Stephens County Sheriff Randy Shirley says in these communications it appeared to the parent and investigators that the suspect was attempting to arrange sexual encounters with the minor.

He says that investigators began conducting an undercover chat operation with the suspect.

Investigators posed as the minor.

During this undercover exchange the suspect agreed to meet the minor at an undisclosed location in person, have a sexual encounter, and provide the minor with money.

Shirley says that when Whitworth arrived, investigators immediately arrested him.

In other indictments, Andrew William Morgan was indicted on two counts of child molestation.

The first count stems from an incident that occurred between November 12, 2018, and January 31, 2020.

The second count stems from an incident involving a separate minor between July 25, 2018, and July 25, 2019.