Payton Shires, former youth counselor, sentenced to prison for sex with teen client
A former youth counselor who admitted to having a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old male client could spend up to four years and nine months in prison.
Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Mark Serrott sentenced Payton Shires, 27, of Madison County, on Thursday morning, saying Shires would have the option to be released early from prison after serving at least 18 months of her sentence.
Shires pleaded guilty in May to multiple counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, as well as intimidation of a victim or witness and inducing panic. She faced a maximum possible sentence of more than 20 years in prison.
Shires had worked as a counselor with the National Youth Advocate Program (NYAP) when she met the 13-year-old male victim. NYAP fired Shires after her arrest.
As part of her sentence, Shires will be required to register as a sex offender every six months for 25 years after her release from prison.
In late September, the 13-year-old's mother found text messages on his phone from Shires that led the mother to believe that inappropriate interactions were taking place between Shires and her son. The mother reported the messages to Columbus police.
A forensic evaluation of the boy's phone revealed additional text messages and a video of Shires and the boy engaging in sexual conduct, according to court records.
As part of the investigation, the victim's mother placed a controlled and recorded three-way phone call with Shires, who admitted to the conduct.
Police arrested Shires in October and she posted a $500,000 bond. While out on that bond, Shires went to the boy's home with a gun, violating several conditions of her pretrial release. Shires told the victim's mother that the woman had ruined Shires' life by reporting her to police and threatened to kill the woman and then herself.
On Thursday, a statement from the 13-year-old's mother was read. The statement said the woman had lost trust in the system because of Shires' actions, and said the case had a "devastating impact."
"Instead, he was manipulated, groomed and sexually abused by Ms. Shires," the woman's statement said. "I regret I ever let you in my house."
Shires' attorney, Gregg Slemmer, said Shires has a 4-year-old son whom she has been unable to see and has suffered from serious mental health issues for years for which she had never fully gotten the help she needed.
"It was always her intent to help this individual," Slemmer said. "The lines got blurred."
Shires provided a statement of her own to Serrott, saying she was glad the mother called police on the night she went to the victim's home.
"She saved my life," Shires said, adding that she felt horrible for the pain she caused. "I was not thinking rationally."
Serrott said he believed Shires had genuine remorse, however, she had violated a position of trust.
"He was a child," Serrott said. "He was trying to get the help he needed."
Serrott also expressed disappointment at Shires' assertion during a pre-sentence investigation that the victim was trying to coerce or blackmail her into engaging into additional sexual conduct.
"You're the adult," the judge said. "You're trained professionally to avoid situations like this."
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Former Ohio counselor sent to prison for sex with teenage client
