A man accused of hiding a 6-year-old Brunswick boy's body in a trash bag pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of making a false statement to police.

Donald Dale will be remanded to a psychiatric facility for five years, followed by probation for his part in the slaying of Christopher Barrios in March 2007.

Police said Dale's friend, George Edenfield, and Edenfield's parents sexually assaulted and killed the boy. They said Dale was only involved only after the boy was already dead.

For six days, searchers scoured the woods of South Georgia for any sign of Barrios. His body was finally found in a black bag among some trees and brush just 15 feet from a roadside behind the Glynn County Airport.

"This is one of the most horrific crimes that I have seen in 21 years of prosecutions," Brunswick Circuit District Attorney Stephen Kelly said at the time.

George Edenfield, a convicted sex offender, lived in the same mobile home park as Barrios and across the street from his grandparents. Prosecutors said Edenfield and his father, David, sexually abused the boy while the mother watched.

Donald Dale in court

Peggy Edenfield has since pleaded guilty to murder.

Attorneys for Dale, who originally was charged with concealing a death and tampering with evidence, withdrew from a plea agreement two weeks ago, and a trial was scheduled for next month.

At a motions hearing Thursday, a new indictment was unsealed, and the plea agreement to lying to police was finalized.

Trials for George and David Edenfield have not been scheduled.