Clayton News Daily

By Curt Yeomans

cyeomans@news-daily.com

James Weeks, a two-and-a-half year veteran of the Morrow Fire Department, is in the Monroe County Jail charged with two felony counts of child molestation and one count of aggravated sexual battery.

Weeks, 42, a resident of Bolingbroke, near Macon, turned himself in to Monroe County sheriff's deputies Tuesday. He appeared in Monroe County Magistrate Court later that day on charges he molested two female children, according to the Monroe County Sheriff's Department. He has been denied bond.

Weeks is a firefighter and paramedic for the City of Morrow. He was dismissed from the volunteer fire department in Bolinbroke.

"He is still employed with the Morrow Fire Department," said Morrow Fire Chief Mark W. Herendeen. "It's still innocent until proven guilty, isn't it?"

Herendeen said Weeks is "on vacation," and the Morrow Fire Department will not conduct an internal investigation of the matter. He said Weeks is a "very good firefighter."

Monroe County Fire Chief Ronald Norris, who is also that county's emergency management director, said Weeks has been removed from his staff.

"He is no longer associated with either the Monroe County Fire Department, or the Bolingbroke Volunteer Fire Department, until the legal action has been resolved," said Norris.

Monroe County Sheriff's Department Spokeswoman Allison Selman-Willis said the department learned of the alleged molestation when one of the victims contacted the department's Child Abuse Reporting Enforcement (CARE) cottage. She declined to release any further details about the case.

"It's an open investigation, and the investigators are still gathering information to prosecute the case," she said.