Arrest Warrant Issued for Marietta Sex Offender

At 7:05 a.m. each weekday, Cobb County School District bus No. 1953 stops at Chauncey Lane and Josh Court to pick up neighborhood children and take them to Hollydale Elementary.

Registered sex offender Joshua Keith Witherspoon leases property less than 60 feet from the bus stop. And that, officials said, is a violation of Georgia law. 

Authorities on Friday issued a warrant for Witherspoon's arrest.

With some exceptions, Georgia code prohibits registered sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of any child care facility, church, school, or area where minors congregate "if the commission of the act for which such individual is required to register occurred on or after July 1, 2008."

Witherspoon was convicted on Dec. 20, 2011, on a felony charge of second degree sexual battery, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's sex offender registry. He registered as a sex offender on Feb. 27, 2012.

However, the property he leases is 58.08 feet from the bus stop.