A Bartow County man who was arrested during a child sex sting died Thursday from an apparent suicide, authorities said.

Mark Maloney, 56, of Emerson, was arrested on four felony charges earlier in January, AJC.com previously reported. He was accused of trying to meet who he thought was a 14-year-old girl for sex in Woodstock, but that person ended up being an undercover detective.

RELATED: Bartow County man arrested, accused of driving to Woodstock to meet teen for sex

He communicated online with detectives posing as the teenage girl, Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Capt. Jay Baker previously said.

Maloney was arrested Jan. 9 on one count each of criminal attempt to commit child molestation, obscene internet contact with a child, sexual exploitation of a child and trafficking a person for sexual service. He was held without bond.

On Friday, Baker confirmed Maloney’s death. Deputies attempted life saving measures before Maloney was taken to Northside Cherokee Hospital, where he later died. Maloney’s manner of death was not provided.

RELATED: Inmates in Cherokee, Cobb found dead in jail cells

The investigation was handed over to the GBI, which is customary for inmate and in-custody deaths.

In other news:

Police are working to return the money to a 90-year-old grandmother hundreds of miles away.

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. (center) is flanked by GOP whip Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo. (left) and Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, as Thune speak to reporters at the Capitol in Washington on Tuesday, July 1, 2025. Earlier Tuesday, the Senate passed the budget reconciliation package of President Donald Trump's signature bill of big tax breaks and spending cuts. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

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