Woodstock Man Sentenced In Undercover Sex Crime Operation

WOODSTOCK, GA — A Woodstock man was sentenced to prison after being accused of attempting to solicit a 14-year-old girl for sex during an undercover operation in May 2020, according to the Cherokee County District Attorney's Office.

Marvin Civil, 38, was convicted on Feb. 1 of criminal attempt to commit a felony (child molestation) and computer pornography during a two-day trial, Acting District Attorney Susan K. Treadaway announced in a Wednesday news release.

Chief Superior Court Judge Ellen McElyea sentenced Civil on Feb. 5 to 15 years with the first five years to serve in prison, Treadaway said. The remaining 10 years will be served on probation, and he will be subject to sex offender conditions of supervision, including no contact with minors under the age of 18.

Civil was accused of using a website to connect with a girl who told him she was 14-years-old. He was accused of texting and describing to her sexual acts he wanted to do with her.

He was accused of inviting the girl to meet him at a Sixes Road gas station on May 20, 2020. He was accused of requesting a nude photo from the girl in the gas station's restroom to prove she was there. In a separate message, he was accused of instructing her to wait at a hardware store instead and text a photo of herself at the store.

He continued to text the girl, and deputies were able to find him at a Highway 92 warehouse store, Treadaway said. After being arrested, Treadaway said Civil told deputies "he was only working to help them catch a child predator when he engaged in the explicit messaging" and that he did not want to meet with a minor.

Treadaway said he did not know the girl was actually an undercover deputy with the Cherokee Sheriff's Office's Internet Crimes Against Children task force.

“Undercover agents handling these types of investigations serve a critical function in keeping our children safe," Treadaway said in the release. "Thankfully, no actual child was harmed by the defendant’s actions in this case, and the court’s sentence has removed him from the streets of Cherokee County to prevent the sexual exploitation of children in our community. This case serves as a reminder to be vigilant with monitoring online content and relationships that our children form on the internet.”