FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 26, 2020
For media inquiries only, contact:
Mike Lewis (334) 353-2199 l
Joy Patterson (334) 242-7491
Attorney General Steve Marshall Announces Arrest of Former Limestone County Community Corrections Officer for Ethics Violations, Sex Crimes
(MONTGOMERY) – Attorney General Steve Marshall announced the arrest of James Michael Hardaway, a former Limestone County Community Corrections officer, for alleged ethics violations and sex crimes. Hardaway, 61, of Elkmont, was arrested on October 23 by Special Agents of the Attorney General’s Office with assistance from the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and Redstone Arsenal Police Department, and taken to the Limestone County Jail.
Attorney General Marshall’s Criminal Trials Division presented evidence to a Limestone County grand jury on October 20, resulting in an indictment* returned against Hardaway on October 23.
Specifically, the indictment charges Hardaway with:
- three counts of custodial sexual misconduct by engaging in sexual conduct
with three different victims who were in the custody of the Limestone County
Community Corrections program while he was an officer of that program;
and, - three counts of using his position as a public employee of the Limestone County Community Corrections program to solicit or receive sexual services
from these three victims.
No further information about the investigation or about Hardaway’s alleged crimes other than that stated in the indictment may be released at this time.
If convicted, Hardaway faces a maximum penalty of two to 20 years for the ethics violations, which are class B felonies, and one year and a day to 10 years for custodial sexual misconduct, a class C felony.
*An indictment is merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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