By Christina Haley
The trial of a former
Northwest police officer charged with participating in the prostitution of a
minor has been rescheduled for next month. No court reporter was available for
the trial this week so the case was moved to Aug. 18, the next trial date in
Brunswick County Superior Court.
he trial of a former
Northwest police officer charged with participating in the prostitution of a
minor is scheduled to begin Monday in Brunswick County Superior Court.
Michael Alan Hayes, 40,
of Southport, was indicted by a grand jury on July 1, 2013, charged with
participating in prostitution of a minor and submitting a false report to
police.
Hayes, who served as a
lieutenant in the Northwest Police Department in the small Brunswick County
city of about 837 people, turned himself into the Brunswick County Sheriff’s
Office on the morning of May 15, 2013. He was released from jail under a
$100,000 unsecured bond.
According to the
indictment, Hayes is charged with participating in the prostitution of a minor
for allegedly contacting a 17-year-old female via an advertisement on
Craigslist. He reportedly met with the teen in Boiling Springs Lakes and
exchanged $60 for sex acts.
Hayes is also charged
with contacting Deputy James P. Canton, a Brunswick County sheriff’s deputy, on
Nov. 27, 2012, and making a false statement concerning the source and
circumstances of bullet strikes to his vehicle and hindering the investigation
into the cause of the incident.
Hayes’ charges stem from
an investigation into a web-based prostitution operation via social media
websites, which the Boiling Spring Lakes Police Department began in November
2012.
According to Boiling
Spring Lakes Police Chief Brad Shirley, who spoke about the investigation in
May 2013, Hayes was a victim in an attempted robbery. His vehicle was shot
during the robbery attempt on Reidsville Road in Boiling Spring Lakes on Nov.
27, 2012.
Hayes “did not report
the incident to police and it was through the ongoing prostitution
investigation that our investigator developed information, which was forwarded
to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation for their assistance,”
Shirley said in his initial statement about the case in 2013.
On May 6, 2013, the
police department announced that Kyle Bradley Wolfe and Shawn Christopher
Conley were arrested and charged with soliciting prostitution of a minor as a
result of the investigation. The two suspects were also charged with attempted
robbery with a dangerous weapon in connection with the November 2012 incident
in which Hayes allegedly made a false report to Canton.
Conley, 21, and Wolfe,
22, both of Southport, were indicted on two counts of promoting prostitution of
a minor and two counts of supervising, supporting or protecting minors for
prostitution in June 2013. They were also indicted on charges of attempted robbery
with a dangerous weapon and discharging a firearm into an occupied dwelling or
moving vehicle on Sept. 23, 2013.
Conley has since pleaded
guilty in the case. In March, Conley pleaded guilty to one count of human
trafficking of a minor. He was sentenced to 80-108 months in the N.C.
Department of Corrections. According to Assistant District Attorney Daniel
Thurston, multiple other charges against Conley were dismissed per the plea
deal.
Wolfe has yet to face
several charges in connection with the case, according to Thurston. He remains
at the Brunswick County jail under an $845,500 secured bond.
Thurston has been
assigned as the prosecutor in the State’s case against Hayes. Attorney Geoffrey
Hosford will represent Hayes in the case.