Private Detective Arrested in Columbia County

Columbia County authorities have arrested a North Carolina man for illegally working as a private detective in Georgia and trying to prevent the apprehension of his teenage son on sexual battery charges.

Johnny Bartlett, 58, of Warsaw, N.C., was arrested Thursday after he tried to take off with his 15-year-old son, an Evans boy who was being sought for sexual battery on a teenage girl, according to Investigator Brian Jones with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office.

Investigator Jones said the suspect was contacting witnesses to the sexual battery, posing as a private detective. He was trying to get information on his son's case, but he was not licensed to act as a private detective in Georgia, only in North Carolina, the investigator said.

The suspect's son is living with a relative in Evans and was being sought on sexual battery charges, but Mr. Bartlett "tried to take off with his son," leading to a charge of hindering apprehension or punishment of a criminal.

Now, both the son and the father have been arrested. A charge of hindering apprehension is a felony while the charge of unlawfully engaging in private detective business is a misdemeanor.