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Child Indecency / Child Molestation

1257: Jamol Jones

Cajsa LilliehookLeave a comment

Jones is a former police officer appointed to the Arkansas Board of Corrections by Sarah Huckabee Sanders. He was recently named Chair of the Prison Post-Transfer Board.

After he became Chair, it was revealed that he was fired from the Benton Police Department for ethics violation related to him having a “sexual relationship with a minor.” The investigator believed that Jones lied when he said he did not know she was underage. The investigator mentioned Jones telling the girl not to tell anyone as he would get in trouble. He was twenty-five. The girl’s mother did not want him prosecuted but thought he should not be a police officer. She also blamed her daughter more than him.

His appointment was part of Gov. Sanders effort to add 600 more beds to prisons that the BOC refused because they didn’t have the capacity for more prisoners. So she fired the former chair and appointed Jones. But then he was forced to resign in response to the revelations about his inappropriate sexual abuse of a minor.

America's News – Historical and Current Change Databases NewsBank home New Search A-Z Source List Session Folder Share Feedback Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (AR) February 3, 2024 Back to Results Previous 27 of 87 Next Text Size Cite Email Print Download Save to My Folder Copy Link Share to Google Classroom Parole board chief quits after exposé - Police: Lied about sex with teen, fired February 3, 2024 | Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (AR) Author/Byline: JOSH SNYDER ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE | Page: 1, 5 | Section: Front Section 2143 Words | Readability: Lexile: 1690, grade level(s): >12 Read News Document Jamol Jones, who Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders recently appointed to be chairman of the Arkansas Post-Prison Transfer Board, resigned Friday, according to a written statement from him provided by a source. His resignation comes after news agencies reported that he was fired in 2018 from the Benton Police Department after he admitted to an internal affairs investigator that he lied about a sexual relationship he had with a 17-year-old girl. "Effective today, February 2, 2024, I am resigning from the Post Prison Transfer Board," Jones said in a written statement. "It has been the honor of my life to serve the people of Arkansas in this capacity. I am grateful to the Sanders administration for this opportunity, but this decision is being made in the best interest of my family." Jones, as chairman of the Post-Prison Transfer Board, was also a member of the Board of Corrections. Board of Corrections Chairman Benny Magness said Friday evening that he received a text from an unknown number indicating that Jones had resigned, but that he hadn't received any official notification of his departure. Magness said he didn't respond to the text, but planned to confirm Jones' resignation on Monday if he isn't notified before then. Two members of the Post-Prison Transfer Board, Secretary Wendy Ryals and Lona McCastlain, said Friday evening that they had not received official notification of Jones' resignation. The 35-year-old Jones was appointed to chair the board in January, replacing the previous chairman, John Felts. Senate Majority Leader Blake Johnson, R-Corning, said the action did not require Senate confirmation. However, the Senate confirmed Jones' initial appointment to the board in February 2023. Johnson said the Senate wasn't told about Jones' termination from the Benton Police Department. "Most of the vetting happens in the governor's office," he said. Johnson declined to say whether he would have voted against Jones' confirmation had he been aware of his firing. "I don't get to vote in hindsight, and I'm not going to make any assumptions on all this," he said. In an email, Senate Minority Leader Greg Leding, D-Fayetteville, said he believed the legislative body still needed to officially confirm Jones for him to become the board's chairman, but he hadn't yet confirmed that. He added, "His termination certainly causes concernnot the termination itself, necessarily, but the actions that led to it." Sen. Kim Hammer, R-Benton, said he also "had no knowledge of his actions at the time of the vote to place Mr. Jones on the Parole Board, nor would I have known unless I would have pulled his personnel file under the FOIA process which at the time I had no cause or reason to consider doing. "I was given no indication from the Governor's office, who vets the application, that there was an issue." Jones' termination happened less than a year after he began working at the Police Department, according to a copy of his employee file. The Saline County prosecuting attorney's office declined to file charges against Jones. A Nov. 1, 2018, letter from Police Chief Scotty L. Hodges to Jones notified the officer that he was being placed on administrative leave, with pay, "until further notice." Three days later, Hodges ordered Capt. Kevin Russell of the department to launch an internal affairs investigation into allegations that "Officer Jones may have violated Arkansas Criminal Law." The letter goes on to state that Jones admitted to lying to an investigator over allegations of sexual misconduct. In doing so, Jones violated the department's ethics policy, the letter states. A week later, Hodges issued a third letter, in which he wrote to Jones of the "seriousness" of his policy violation and said he was terminated from his employment with the Police Department, "effective immediately." Sanders first appointed Jones to the Parole Board in January 2023, replacing Jerry Riley. The governor said in a statement at the time that, as an Army veteran, she was confident that Jones would "work to ensure violent, repeat offenders are kept off the streets while also providing opportunities for those in prison to see positive behavioral change by focusing on mental health, faith-based programs, and workforce skills. "His prior law enforcement experience makes him a clear choice to take on this important role, and I look forward to working together as we empower Arkansans with a safer, stronger state," she said. POST-PRISON TRANSFER BOARD The Post-Prison Transfer Board is made up of seven members, all appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate, according to the board's website. Each member's term is seven years and they serve as full-time officials of the state. As a parole board member, Jones' annual salary was $95,381.10, according to state website Transparency.Arkansas.gov. While Jones' current salary as chairman wasn't listed, the previous chairman, Felts, received a salary of $154,240.53, according to the database. The governor designates the chair of the board, who serves as the agency's "chief executive, administrative, budgetary, and fiscal officer of the board," according to its website. The chairman also coordinates with the secretary of the Department of Corrections and serves on the Corrections Board, said state Corrections Department spokeswoman Dina Tyler, who declined to comment further on Jones' appointment and history. On Wednesday, the Board of Corrections voted to hire former state Sen. Eddie Joe Williams as the interim secretary of the Department of Corrections, which had been without a leader since the body fired Joe Profiri on Jan. 10. However, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin sent a letter dated Thursday to Williams in which Griffin "strongly encourage[d]" Williams to reject what he called "the board's unlawful appointment." The Post-Prison Transfer Board was formerly the Arkansas Parole Board, but was renamed under the Protect Arkansas Act. Its stated mission is to serve Arkansans through parole "via structured and evidenced-based decision-making." The end result, according to that mission, is the public's safety, the empowerment of victims, and that offenders will be provided opportunities for positive behavioral change and held accountable for their actions upon release." Parole is the conditional release from prison of a convicted person who hasn't yet served the full sentence. ALLEGATION, INVESTIGATION Russell determined through his investigation that Jones lied twice during a criminal investigative interview with Lt. Jeff Kling: Jones changed his story two times about the extent of his relationship with the girl, according to Jones' file. The officer told Kling he lied because he was embarrassed and scared, and he confirmed that he lied twice during his interview with Russell. Hodges, along with the department's assistant chief and criminal investigation captain, asked Kling on Oct. 31 to investigate an allegation the Saline County sheriff's office received about a Benton officer who became sexually involved with a 17-year-old girl. Jones initially told Kling he and the girl "had talked at the gym," adding later that "she had identified herself as an eighteen-year-old and that the two had only talked since the meeting," Kling's report states. When the investigator challenged Jones about his statements, the officer said that he felt "set up" by the girl. Jones went on to say she performed oral sex on him "in the parking lot of the Benton Post Office." Kling said he told James "there was indication he knew her age and continued the relationship, even telling her that the relationship could not be found out," according to the investigator's report. Jones, however, continued to deny that he knew her age. "I knew she was too young for me, but I didn't know that she was under age," Jones reportedly said. When the investigator pointed out to Jones that the officer had training, as well as an understanding of the law, and could have asked for ID to confirm her age if he had any concerns, Jones agreed. When asked about a report that he told the girl their relationship couldn't be discovered, Jones acknowledged saying that. The report goes on to state he claimed to have said that "in regards to the fact that he was," though the final word in the sentence is redacted. During an earlier interview with Kling, the mother of the girl asked the investigator that "no harm come to the officer," as she "reasoned that her daughter would likely lie about her age if she believed it would turn her person of interest away." She said during a later interview that it was "highly likely" that Jones didn't know that her daughter was 17. Kling writes, "The mother volunteered that she did not want Officer Jones to 'go to jail,' over this. She said that she did feel that he did not need to be a police officer but four [sic] her daughter's part; she did not want him to go to jail." Jones' biography on the board's website describes him as a former police officer with the U.S. Department of Defense and Benton Police Department and "most recently, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs." His biography does not mention his termination from the Benton Police Department. He is a Benton native and attended Arkansas Tech University from 2007 through 2011 but did not obtain a degree during that period, according to a background investigation summary included in his employee file. Jones was hired by the Police Department in April 2018, his file states. A previous application from Jones to work with the department was "removed from consideration based on the Benton Civil Service Commission Background Standards for Police Officer Selection Process," according to a March 6, 2018, letter from Sgt. Quinton Jackson to Russell. "Jamol did not provide or submit certain key information in the application process." Alexa Henning, a spokesperson for the governor's office, did not respond to questions about whether Sanders knew of Jones' termination before she appointed him to the Parole Board or how her office vets potential appointees before they are announced. Henning instead emailed a statement that matched statements given to other media outlets, which reads, "Jamol bravely served our nation in the Army and protected his community as a police officer providing him with the experience and knowledge to serve on the Post-Prison Transfer Board and the Board of Corrections." Jones did not reply to messages seeking comment about his role on the board and what was disclosed during his appointment and confirmation process. AG'S LETTER TO WILLIAMS Griffin sent a letter dated Thursday to Williams, the former state senator recently hired by the Board of Corrections to lead the Corrections Department, stating the board "has no such authority to appoint anyone as interim Secretary." "No such position exists within the Department of Corrections," he wrote. Instead, only the governor has the power to nominate a secretary, and that the body had acknowledged that in a letter they sent to Sanders on Thursday, Griffin said. In that letter, Board Chairman Benny Magness described the role as "interim Executive-in-Charge," and that Williams would serve in a "consultant capacity." Griffin continued, "As the Bard once wrote, 'that which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.'" Williams' acceptance of the board's appointment "may result in litigation being filed to prevent you from serving and being compensated as interim Secretary," Griffin wrote. The attorney general asked Williams to inform him of the former senator's intentions regarding the board's appointment "by no later than 3:00 p.m." on Friday. Jeff LeMaster, spokesman for the attorney general's office, said in an email shortly after 3:30 p.m. that Griffin had not received a response from Williams. Griffin, in a statement provided by LeMaster, said, "We are considering all our options." A voicemail left for Williams on Friday afternoon seeking comment on Griffin's letter wasn't immediately returned. In a separate letter to Magness dated Friday, Griffin accused the body of violating the state Freedom of Information Act by holding two executive sessions on Wednesday, the day they hired Williams. The first instance was in an executive session about Chief Financial Officer Chad Brown and the body's payment of an invoice "for your illegally retained special counsel," the letter states. Griffin said the board "failed to announce the 'specific purpose' of the session before entering into it. They also invited Brown to enter the session, which wasn't permitted, according to the attorney general. Griffin said the board also violated the Freedom of Information Act when it entered executive session to appoint Williams as interim secretary. Using his argument that the board doesn't have the power to "unilaterally appoint a secretary," he said "any executive session called to do so cannot be considered a personnel-matters executive session under the FOIA." The attorney general said the board "must reconvene and cure these illegal actions immediately, no later than" Feb. 9. Magness said the board chose to consider Williams "as someone that could maybe reach out to all the stakeholders, the Legislature, the governor's office and the attorney general's office." He added, "It just appears to me that nobody is willing to sit down and talk with us or work with us to settle this impasse we're at." Magness said he spoke with Williams and left the former senator's decision whether to accept the role up to him. Memo: MORE CONTENT Read letter from Griffin to appointee nwaonline.com/23ejwilliams/ MORE CONTENT Read Griffin's letter to board chairman nwaonline.com/23magness/ © Copyright 2024, Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (AR) ©2024 NewsBank, inc. Help Contact Customer Service Privacy Policy Terms of Use Listen Dictionary
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock, AR)
February 3, 2024

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