On Friday, October 20th, the Cartersville Police Department was notified of a possible sexual assault of a Cartersville High School student by a Cartersville High School teacher.
After a week-long joint investigation with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Cartersville Police Investigators, along with Agents from the GBI, arrested 51-year-old Mark Russell Mathison of Cartersville. They charged Mathison with sexual assault by a person with supervisory authority, sexual exploitation of a child, and obscene telephone contact with a child. Mr. Mathison was lodged at the Bartow County jail pending a bond hearing.
The Cartersville School System states that their high school officials were alerted to potentially inappropriate communication between a teacher and a student on Friday, October 20th. They say that school officials acted immediately and under the appropriate situational protocols. They instantly did not allow the teacher on the high school premises, and he is no longer a Cartersville City Schools employee.
Mathison taught biology and physical science, coached youth sports, and graduated from Cartersville High.
This investigation is ongoing. Cartersville Police asks anyone with information about this investigation to contact their Criminal Investigative Division at 770-387-5690.