Former GBI agent indicted on molestation, child enticement charges

A former GBI agent assigned in Middle Georgia was indicted Tuesday on allegations that he molested three boys and enticed the three and one other boy for “indecent purposes.”

Charles Woodall, 35, is charged with six counts of child molestation, five counts of enticing a child for indecent purposes and one count of violating his oath of office, according to the indictment filed in Bibb County Superior Court.

Woodall, who became a GBI agent in December 2011, resigned in lieu of termination during the investigation last year. He was arrested Nov. 9 at his family’s home in Knoxville, Tennessee. His attorney declined comment Tuesday.

Woodall had been assigned to the GBI’s Milledgeville field office, but he also interned at the Perry office before being hired as an agent.

Allegations included in Tuesday’s indictment date from 2005 to 2014.

Authorities allege that Woodall separately gave three boys pornographic images and a sex toy and encouraged them to perform a sex act in his presence. He also allegedly touched the boys’ genitals, according to the indictment.

In the case of a fourth boy, Woodall is accused of providing pornographic images to the child, discussing how to pleasure himself and asking him to take off his clothes, according to the indictment.

A GBI agent testifying at a November hearing in the case said Woodall had previously been investigated in 2014, but there wasn’t sufficient evidence to prosecute. Allegations brought forward by others in the new investigation have corroborated the account the boy in the 2014 case described.

The prosecution in the 2014 Monroe County beating death of 5-year-old Heaven Woods cited Woodall’s arrest as one reason why plea bargains were offered in the case, which once was on track for Woods’ mother and the mother’s boyfriend to be taken to trial with the death penalty as a possible punishment.

Woodall testified at a May pretrial hearing in the case against Christopher Calmer, a Monroe County man charged with fatally shooting deputy Michael Norris in 2014. He was the lead investigator for the case. It’s unclear how Woodall’s arrest could impact the Calmer case as it moves toward trial next year.

This story was originally published July 19, 2016 at 4:26 PM with the headline "Former GBI agent indicted on molestation, child enticement charges."