The Glynn County Grand Jury indicted George Edenfield, David Edenfield, and Peggy Edenfield on murder and 12 other charges stemming from the March 8, 2007 murder of reported missing child Christopher Barrios, Jr.

Donald Dale was also indicted on charges of tampering with evidence and concealing the death of another person for his involvement in the crime against Christopher.

The Prosecutor is seeking the death penalty for George, David and Peggy Edenfield. Donald Dale faces a possible 20 year prison sentence if he is convicted of the charges he faces.

Glynn County Superior Court Judge Stephen G. Scarlett approved the prosecution’s request for bench warrants for the four and also a request that no bond be issued.

No hearing has been set.

Search warrants obtained Tuesday by The News from Glynn County Magistrate Court also reveal:

* George Edenfield told police March 8 – just hours after Christopher disappeared – that he killed the boy. He later said he choked Christopher.

* Peggy Edenfield told police March 12 that George Edenfield, her son, confessed to her that he had killed Christopher.
* Peggy Edenfield witnessed her son and David Edenfield, George’s father and Peggy Edenfield’s husband, choke Christopher until he was dead. [Source]

Partial quote from various search warrant applications:

In a follow-up interview (on March 12, 2007), with Glynn County police Sgt. Keith Stalvey, Peggy Edenfield admitted that George attempted to clean fingerprints off Christopher’s neck “using a pot of water and soap and wrapping him in plastic trash bags.”

That statement is consistent in three of the four search warrant applications. In the fourth – this one to search the Edenfield home – it is stated that Peggy Edenfield said she washed Christopher’s neck.

That same warrant includes Peggy Edenfield telling police “that David Edenfield and George Edenfield used clothing to wipe semen off their bodies.” No further information on this detail is included in any of the warrant applications. [Source]

George Edenfield was convicted of two counts of child molestation in 1997.

George David Edenfield was required to register as a sex offender after he pleaded guilty in 1997 to molesting two boys, ages 7 and 9. Prosecutors said he rubbed his clothed body “in a sexual manner” against the boys, who also were fully dressed. He was sentenced then to 10 years on probation. [Source]

George Edenfield appeared in court on to answer new charges on March 5, 2007, three days prior to Christopher’s disappearance.

Sheriffs’ deputies told George David Edenfield in September that he had to leave his home near downtown Brunswick because it was too close to a playground. Georgia law prohibits registered sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of schools and other places that draw crowds of children.

His family went to live in the trailer park in October after George David Edenfield was arrested for failing to move as ordered. He pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced to probation March 5, three days before Christopher went missing. [Source]

The probation George Edenfield was ordered to serve on the new charge was additional 10 years as well as being required to sign a sex offender contract. What is confusing about the new charges is that initially the DA wanted a stricter, more supervised probation of George Edenfield. However, in the end he was sentenced to merely what amounted to the probation he was given for the original offenses.

David Edenfield, pleaded guilty to incest in 1994. He was accused of having sex with an adult relative who was not his son. [Source]

It would appear based from the charges, interviews, and past history of the members of the Edenfield family that both the male Edenfield’s have a propensity for male victims and Peggy Edenfield has no problem covering up for the crimes committed against innocent people. If what Peggy Edenfield indicated was true regarding her husband and son wiping semen off of their bodies, it appears that is was not only George Edenfield participating in the rape of Christopher prior to his murder.

George Edenfield indicated to authorities that he killed Christopher because ‘devil told him to do it’. I wonder if that devil was his father. I am not looking for an out for George Edenfield.

However, it is not too far of a stretch to imagine that David Edenfield’s first victim in his quest for victims was his own son and that is the reason that George Edenfield became a sexual predator.

I can say one condition of George Edenfield’s parole should have been to not associate with known sex offenders or to live with known sex offenders and that should have included his convicted sex offender father.

One problem with the current sex offender laws is that the law looks differently at persons who are convicted of incest as opposed to those who would commit crimes against non-family members. I think part of the reasoning is that incest is considered more of a crime of opportunity which is really dumb reasoning. I think that most, if not all sex crimes are crimes of opportunity.

The history of this family begs the question: Are there more victims who have not come forward?

Christopher’s funeral is scheduled for Thursday