Last Updated on March 29, 2016 9:50 pm
*Press Release from Avery County Sheriff Kevin Frye*
On 03/24/16 Avery County Sheriff’s Office arrested Jude Dayton Hughes (age 50) of Elk Park NC. Hughes was charged with one count of Taking Indecent Liberties with a Student, a class I felony.
Indecent Liberties means the Willfully taking or attempting to take any immoral, improper, or indecent liberties with a student for the purpose of arousing or gratifying sexual desire. In this instance the Avery County School system and Sheriff’s Office worked together to insure no harm or contact was actually made between the perpetrator and the victim.
“Once we found out about the improper contact from the school system, the student’s parents allowed us complete use of the student’s accounts and we were able to portray ourselves as the student the whole time. The student never actually was part of the investigation other than the initial social media contact and was kept safe and clear from this investigation.” Sheriff Frye stated.
Hughes was employed as a custodian at Avery County High School. “This was one of those instances where the School system and law enforcement along with the District Attorney’s office worked in concert to stop an incident before it happened and before any harm could happen to one of the students. I want to thank the school system, staff and the District Attorney’s Office for assisting us throughout this investigation. The SBI also was called to assist in collection of all social media and electronic evidence.” Sheriff Frye stated.
