A teacher in Mississippi accused of having sex with a student was denied bond after investigators discovered he was attempting to cross state lines to elope with the minor.
Jackson County Sheriff Captain Kristen Johnson testified about 38-year-old James Donald Hawkins II’s plan, WLOX reported.
“He said that they had made plans to go to Louisiana to elope, and things were moving faster than they originally expected,” Johnson testified.
Johnson also noted during her testimony that Hawkins admitted to having a sexual relationship with the 17-year-old at his home and in the parking lot of the Ocean Springs Walmart, WLOX reported.
The Sun Herald reported that they had sex at his home, where he lives with his wife and their toddler.
Hawkins was a high school physics teacher in the Ocean Springs school district and was arrested at the end of November and charged with felony sexual battery, online court records show.
The district told local media outlets that he was terminated from his position after he was arrested.
“James Hawkins was terminated from OSSD when district officials were informed of his arrest and subsequent charges by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department this evening,” the district said in a statement.
Johnson shared last week at Hawkins’ probable cause hearing that more charges could be coming as the investigation remains ongoing.
“The victim said that it began in the springtime of 2023 before the last school year ended,” Johnson said. “According to Mr. Hawkins, he admitted they had sex approximately one time a month, including at his house and in her car.”
The bond was set at $150,000, and the judge ordered him to stay away from the student and her family.
Officials with Hawkins’ former school district called the accusations “disturbing and intolerable.”
“OSSD is deeply troubled by the arrest and charges announced today by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department involving one of our teachers,” the school district said at the time of his arrest.