Stephens County — A misunderstanding led to lockdown Wednesday at a Stephens County school.

Toccoa Elementary School officials locked down the school after a man facing molestation charges related to one of their students failed to return from a medical furlough.

A 57-year-old Dahlonega man had been released from the Stephens County Jail on a medical furlough and transferred to the Ronnie Green Heart Center at Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville for a medical procedure, said Captain Jimmy Mize of the Stephens County Sheriff’s Office. After his procedure, the man left the center and did not return to Stephens County custody.

It appears, however, that the man wasn’t trying to escape, said Chief Deputy Mike Crozier of the Sheriff’s Office.Rather, the man simply didn’t understand the terms of the furlough and went to a relative’s house instead. Sheriff’s deputies contacted the man, picked him up and took him back to the Stephen County jail Tuesday afternoon.

“There was never any threat to anyone in Stephens County,” Crozier said.

The school was locked down as a precaution said Gary Steppe, Stephens County School Superintendent Gary Steppe. He added that authorities never felt there was an imminent danger.

A lockdown involves extra security, including locking the doors and restricting movements, Steppe explained. The lockdown lasted roughly three hours Wednesday.