DeKalb-Centered Operation Nets 14 on Child Sex Charges

By Patch Editor Scott Bernarde

A Douglas County, Ga. elementary school teacher has been arrested and charged with soliciting children for sex.

John McGill, principal of Mt. Carmel Elementary School, has been suspended by the Douglas County School System after Sunday’s GBI announcement that he was arrested in a Georgia Bureau of Investigation sting that targeted people who use the internet to have sex with children.

He is one of 14 people arrested in the GBI's “Operation Broken Heart,” which began on Feb. 26 and involved 37 law enforcement agencies. McGill and the others were arrested for allegedly traveling to meet a child for sex. The operation was centered in DeKalb County.

McGill, 56, was charged under the Computer Pornography and Child Exploitation Prevention Act of 1999, the GBI said in a statement. He is in the DeKalb County jail.

McGill’s name has been removed from the staff listing on the Mt. Carmel website. Neighbors of McGill expressed disbelief in this Fox5 report.

The Douglas County School System addressed the matter with this statement Sunday:

“I was notified today (Sunday, March 2) that Mt. Carmel Elementary School Principal John McGill was arrested this weekend and is under investigation,” reported Douglas County School Superintendent Dr. Gordon Pritz. “We take this matter very seriously. He has been suspended by the system pending the law enforcement investigation.”

The system is fully cooperating with law enforcement. Few details, confirmed by law enforcement, are available at this time; more information is expected as the process proceeds.