Payton Shires, Mount Sterling, Ohio former social worker sentenced to nearly 5 years jail after previously pleading guilty to having sex with 13 year old client.
A former social worker who had sex with her client — a 13-year-old boy — and who had sought to keep the sordid tryst secret, along with blaming the boy for her own downfall, was sentenced to nearly five years in prison on Thursday in Ohio.
Payton Shires, of Mount Sterling, pleaded guilty in May to four counts of unlawful sexual misconduct with a minor, one count of inducing panic with a firearm specification and one count of intimidation to a victim or witness. A second count of intimidation and discharging of a firearm was dropped as part of her guilty plea.
Shires was arrested in October 2023 when she was accused of having sex multiple times with a 13-year-old client assigned to her for counseling.
‘Did your mom see the videos?’
The victim’s mother approached police saying she found messages between Shires and her son, asking him if his mother ‘had seen the videos or messages.’
Days later, detectives found a video on the teen’s phone showing Shires and the teen having sex and engaging in other sex acts in various locations across Columbus. All the incidents happened in September 2023, according to court records.
Shires reportedly admitted to having sex with the teen on a three-way call between her, the teen’s mother and detectives.
But there was more to come.
Weeks later, Shires was arrested again after showing up at the victim’s home with a gun, according to court records. When police arrived at the home, Shires was sitting on the front porch with a gun to her head and her finger on the trigger. Records say that she was yelling that she wanted to kill herself and the victim’s mother along with claiming that the boy and his mother had ruined her life for involving police.
‘I regret I ever let you in my house.’
During her sentencing, Shires apologized for what happened and said she felt horrible for the mistakes she made and saying ‘she was not thinking rationally.’
‘I just hope [the family] can find peace from this, that they can find peace and trust with their social workers in the future,’ she said local media reported.
In an impact statement, the victim’s unidentified mother read a statement in court on Thursday that stated Payton Shires’ actions had caused her family to lose faith in the system that is designed to help them.
‘Instead, he was manipulated, groomed and sexually abused by Ms. Shires,’ the mother’s statement said, according to the Columbus Dispatch.
Adding, ‘I regret I ever let you in my house.’
Upon sentencing, the judge ordered that Shires serve four years and nine months in state prison. She will have 253 days of jail credit.
Additionally, Shires will have to register as a Tier 2 sex offender for 25 years.
Abuse of position of trust, authority and power
The judge said Shires would have the opportunity to be released from prison if she maintains a good record. After her prison sentence, she will be on parole for five years.
Police said Shires was formally employed by the National Youth Advocate Program, a group that specializes in working with families involved in the foster care system, according to the Columbus Dispatch.
In November 2023, the teen’s mother filed a lawsuit against Shires‘ against the National Youth Advocate Program, saying the organization was negligent in hiring Shires because she wasn’t competent to perform her duties. The mother and her son are seeking at least $50,000 in damages.
Shires, received her social worker license in Ohio back on June 12, 2023, before starting work with the National Youth Advocate Program.
Not immediately understood is what led to the social worker in the first place abusing her position of trust, authority and power to subjugate her then 13 year old male victim.
