A Jones County couple told deputies their 7-year-old adopted son had died, but investigators say the pair already knew that two days before anyone called for help. George Togeg, 46, and Reva Ogles, 36, now face first-degree cruelty to children charges on top of an initial concealment charge, and the county's sheriff says he does not believe the explanation they gave for how the boy died.
Jones County Sheriff Butch Reece told 13WMAZ that Togeg is the boy's father and Ogles is the child's adoptive mother. The additional cruelty charge against both caretakers specifically cites deprivation of sustenance, according to the sheriff's account to the station. Deputies first learned of the death after receiving a call on Thursday reporting that a child had been dead for roughly two days, according to Us Weekly, which reported on the arrests.
Sheriff Says He Doesn't Buy the Couple's Account
Investigators responded to the home in the Hampton Lakes subdivision off Highway 49 on Thursday evening, after Togeg and Ogles contacted law enforcement — a two-day delay from when authorities say the boy actually died on Tuesday. Reece did not mince words about what deputies found when they got there. “The story that we were told, we really don't believe at all,” he said, according to 13WMAZ's reporting, as crime scene investigators went back through the home from a different angle.
That skepticism is what led deputies to bring the additional first-degree cruelty charge rather than treat the case as a simple failure to report a death. The boy's cause and manner of death remain undetermined pending autopsy results, per Us Weekly's report on the arrests. The sheriff's office has said additional charges may be added as the investigation continues and more information becomes available.
A School Community and an Infant Left Behind
The boy was enrolled at Mattie Wells Elementary School in Jones County, and investigators have said they plan to interview school officials as part of the active investigation, the station's report notes. Mattie Wells serves roughly 580 students from Pre-K through fifth grade and draws families from both northern Bibb and Jones counties, according to Ballotpedia.
An infant also living in the home was found unharmed. Sheriff's deputies contacted the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services, and the infant was subsequently placed with a relative, per the same account from 13WMAZ. Togeg and Ogles were booked into the Jones County jail following their arrests.
What the Charges Could Mean
Under Georgia Code § 16-5-70(a), a caregiver commits first-degree cruelty to children by willfully depriving a child under 18 of necessary sustenance to a degree that jeopardizes the child's health or well-being — a felony that can bring five to 20 years in prison.
The initial concealment charge carries its own penalties. Under Georgia Code § 16-10-31, concealing the death of another person is a felony. Us Weekly reported that the charge is punishable by one to 10 years in prison, a fine of $1,000 to $5,000, or both, citing the Office of Lawson and Berry. Information about legal representation for Togeg and Ogles was not immediately available.
A Pattern of Scrutiny on Georgia's Child Welfare System
A Pattern of Scrutiny on Georgia's Child Welfare System Georgia's child-welfare system has faced broader scrutiny in recent years: an April 2024 U.S. Senate Judiciary subcommittee investigation led by Senator Jon Ossoff identified severe caseworker shortages, administrative mismanagement, and delayed abuse responses across the agency statewide, according to Courthouse News Service.
Jones County lies about 85 miles southeast of Atlanta. The case is the latest in a string of child-death investigations to hit the small central Georgia county, following a Pre-K student's drowning death late last month. For now, key questions remain open, including the official cause and manner of death once the state crime lab completes its autopsy, whether DFCS had any prior contact with the family, and whether more serious charges could follow as investigators finish their work.
