LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The person appointed to chair Arkansas’ parole board by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders was fired from an area police division a number of years in the past after mendacity to investigators about having intercourse with a minor, paperwork launched by the division present.
Jamol Jones, who Sanders named the board’s chair final week, was fired from the Benton Police Division in 2018 for mendacity to investigators about whether or not he had intercourse with a 17-year-old lady, in accordance with his personnel file launched in response to a Freedom of Data Act request. The paperwork have been first reported Thursday evening by Little Rock tv station KATV.
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Jones lied twice to legal investigators trying into the connection, and he initially advised them he had solely talked with the lady. Prosecutors did not pursue any expenses towards Jones, however he was fired for violating the division’s code of ethics by mendacity to investigators, the paperwork present.
Based on the paperwork, Jones advised an inside affairs investigator that he didn’t know the lady’s age however he acknowledged he “ought to have picked up on some clues” together with Snapchat messages the place she talked about going to courses all day.
A spokeswoman for Sanders didn’t say whether or not the governor or her workplace knew in regards to the investigation into Jones earlier than she appointed him, or whether or not Sanders believed he ought to nonetheless function parole board chair.
AR parole board chair claims he didn’t know the age of the lady in query.
“Jamol bravely served our nation within the Military and guarded his neighborhood as a police officer offering him with the expertise and data to serve on the Submit-Jail Switch Board and the Board of Corrections,” spokeswoman Alexa Henning mentioned in an e-mail.
Sanders final week mentioned Jones’ “prior regulation enforcement expertise makes him a transparent option to tackle this vital function.” His appointment chairing the seven-member panel expires Jan. 14, 2030.
Jones is an Military veteran who additionally served as a corporal assigned to patrol at coaching divisions on the U.S. Division of Veterans Affairs.
Jones didn’t say whether or not he had mentioned the investigation and his firing with the governor’s workplace earlier than the appointment.
“I didn’t break any legal guidelines, no expenses have been filed, however I made a mistake I’ve requested God and my households forgiveness for, and I take full duty for my actions,” Jones mentioned in an e-mail. “I’m pleased with my service to our nation and our state, and the assist of my spouse and household.”
As parole board chairman, Jones additionally serves as a member of the state Board of Corrections. The revelations about his firing come as Sanders and the panel have been in an escalating combat over who controls the state’s jail system.
A state decide has blocked a regulation Sanders signed final yr that took away the board’s potential to rent and hearth the secretary of corrections. Following that ruling, the board fired Sanders’ appointee to the put up.