A police chief who is also a mayor in middle Georgia was arrested by the GBI on Wednesday for allegedly sexting and soliciting sex from young men.

The cities of Molena and Concord – in Pike County about 60 miles southwest of Atlanta – are both expected to hold special called city council meetings on Thursday to address the arrest of James Roberts. He was re-elected as mayor of Concord in November 2013 and re-appointed Molena police chief in March when the city reinstated its police department.

The GBI arrested Roberts on Wednesday after a six-week investigation into allegations he solicited at least two young men for sex by using his position as chief to influence them, allowed one of the men to obtain gas to fill up his car and used his city phone to sext the young men. He was charged with two counts of solicitation of sodomy and one count of theft by conversion.

The GBI announced the arrest in a four-paragraph statement:

The GBI arrested Molena Police Chief James Roberts today.  The arrest comes after a month and a half long investigation into allegations that Roberts solicited several young men for sex and used his position as police chief to gain the trust of the young men.  Roberts, who is also the Mayor of Concord, provided one of these young men with his personal code and key to obtain county gas to fill up the young man’s personally owned vehicle.

On August 22, 2014, Assistant District Attorney Benjamin Coker, of the Griffin Judicial Circuit, requested the GBI conduct an investigation into allegations against Roberts.  The request came after the grandparents of one of the young men, who was allegedly victimized by Roberts, reported the information to the Pike County Sheriff’s Office.  The investigation also revealed Roberts sent obscene pictures to a juvenile on his city phone.

The GBI presented its findings to Griffin Judicial Circuit District Attorney Scott Ballard who determined Roberts would be charged with two counts of Solicitation of Sodomy and one count of Theft by Conversion.

Subsequent to Roberts’ arrest, GBI agents executed search warrants at Roberts’ residence, the Molena Police Department, Molena City Hall, and Concord City Hall.

A GBI spokesperson declined to discuss the ages of the alleged victims and whether they over the age of 16, which is the age of consent in Georgia. The spokesperson, Sherry Lang, also would not say if Roberts offered the young men cash in the alleged solicitations. She also said a judge has since sealed the case and additional details could not be discussed.

The case raises questions about whether Roberts' alleged actions fall under what remains of the state sodomy law.

In October 2013, the Georgia Supreme Court threw out the conviction of a police officer in Nashville, Ga., who received a 5-year prison sentence for sexting and soliciting sex from a 17-year-old high school athlete. The GBI arrested James Edwin Watson in 2009 after conducting a sting when the teen complained to a high school coach about Watson asking for sex. In 2011, a jury convicted him of two felony counts of violating his oath of office and two misdemeanor counts of solicitation of sodomy.

A chunk of the state's sodomy law was dumped in 1998, ending the portion of the law that criminalized “private, unforced, non-commercial acts of sexual intimacy between persons legally able to consent.” In Watson's case, the state Supreme Court reversed his conviction and ruled that the case didn't prove all the remaining elements needed to be convicted for solicitation under what remains of the state sodomy law. The court also spelled out solicitation of sodomy is illegal only if the sex act is to be performed in public, involves the exchange of money, is by force or is with someone under the age of 16.

Specifically, the Court held, the prosecution failed to prove that the proposed sexual acts were to be performed in public, in exchange for money or anything of commercial value, by force, or by one legally incapable of consenting to such acts.

Roberts presided over the City Council meeting in Concord on Tuesday. His arrest surprised Concord Mayor Pro Tem John Strickland, according to the AJC.

Strickland said GBI officials came to city hall Wednesday morning to inspect city computers. He said investigators searched the city clerk’s computer to make sure there was nothing on it, even though Roberts does not use that computer. He added that investigators did not take that computer after determining there was no information relevant to the case on there, but did take some of the city’s inactive computers with them to inspect.

Nothing so far has implicated the city in any malfeasance, Strickland said, and there has been no indication of any wrongdoing by Roberts in his capacity as mayor.

UPDATE | Both cities suspended Rogers during meetings on Thursday, according to the AJC.