After being accused of three counts of sexual battery against a 17-year-old girl, a school security guard who had previously lost a campaign to become mayor of a small Mississippi town lost his job this week, according to authorities.
According to a statement from the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department, following his arrest on November 8, Isaiah Thomas Hayes, 38, is also charged with one count of enticing a juvenile for sexual reasons.
The department states that the alleged crimes occurred in August of this year and ended at the end of October.
According to the Moss Point School District, which was cited by the Sun Herald, Hayes began working as a campus police officer on March 15 and remained there until his arrest.
Prior to this, the outlet stated that Hayes served as the vice president of the board of trustees for the district in the 2019–2020 academic year. The Mississippi man, who is suspected of being a sex offender, ran under an ambiguous political flag for alderman at large in 2021 and mayor of Moss Point in 2017, according to his campaign Facebook page.
The publication was informed by the Jackson County Sheriff that Hayes’ purported 17-year-old victim in each of the three occurrences came forward to the Moss Point Police Department, which then got in touch with the larger law enforcement organisation to help with an investigation.
The school administration said last Thursday that Hayes was “no longer employed by the district” in a statement to the local media station WLOX.
“Should information be presented to the MPSD’s administration that such inappropriate behaviour may be taking place, the district immediately investigates and handles each situation,” communications director Ja’Leasa Bolden wrote to the outlet. “We will continue to monitor this matter and take appropriate action based on the outcome of the investigation. We are praying for all families involved.”
According to WLOX, the 38-year-old was given $30,000 for each of the four offences against him after making an appearance in Jackson County Court on Thursday. According to online jail records, he remains detained at Jackson County Detention Centre.
There was no attorney listed in court documents who could speak for Hayes.
