Behavioral specialist at Dublin facility charged with trying to have sex with 12-yr-old boy
A Fairfield County woman has been charged by Columbus police with importuning for engaging in sexual solicitation messages with a 12-year-old boy who attends an education center in Dublin.
Mackenzie Sokol, 34, of Commercial Point, works as a behavioral specialist at Reach Education Service, which offers therapy and tutoring services for students with disabilities, police said.
In Franklin County Municipal Court records, police accuse Sokol of sexting the boy on the Facebook Messenger app beginning in April, including exchanging "suspected nude photos" and discussing meeting to have sexual intercourse on three occasions.
On April 20, the two discussed a location in the Grove City area where they could possibly have sex, the legality of doing so, and how they could avoid being discovered, police said in an affidavit.
Dublin police provided information to the Columbus Police Exploited Children Unit about the inappropriate relationship. A search warrant was obtained for the boy's Facebook Messenger app texts which revealed what was happening, police said.
The incident is the second arrest announced by Columbus police involving a woman with a working position of authority over a young boy in less than a week.
Payton Shires, 24, a licensed social worker who worked as a counselor with youth, was arrested on Friday and charged with unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, according to police records. She was taken into custody after a woman contacted police on Sept. 27 and reported that she found text messages on her 13-year-old son's cellphone between him and Shires.
The woman believed "something inappropriate was happening between her son and Shires after seeing messages asking if he had deleted the videos and asking if his mom had seen the videos or messages."
A forensic examination of the phone by police revealed Shires had been having sex with the boy, police said.
jwilhelm@dispatch.com
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Police: Dublin behavioral specialist solicited sex with 12-year-old
