INFORMATION RELEASE

On 5-30-14, at about 1017 hours, officers of the Ketchikan Police Department served an arrest warrant on 43 year old Jonathan Hayward for sexual offenses committed in Juneau and Ketchikan. He is being held on $200,000 bond. Hayward is charged with five counts of Sexual Abuse of a Minor in the First Degree, an unclassified felony, for crimes against a now seven year old girl. The offenses took place over about two years starting when the girl was just five years old. Hayward was additionally charged with four counts of Unlawful Exploitation of a Minor, a class B felony, and ten counts of possession of child pornography, a class C felony.

This investigation involves multiple electronic devices that are being analyzed with assistance from officers involved in the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. JPD has one detective that works with that task force and he coordinates with other task force members to conduct searches of various devices. Additional charges are anticipated as those searches are continuing in Anchorage.

The Juneau Police Department (JPD) would like the public to be aware that the reason this case came to JPD?s attention in April of 2014 is the young girl made a spontaneous disclosure in front of a medical provider who was providing care for the young girl?s babysitter. The medical provider made a complaint to the Office of Children?s Services, who notified law enforcement. During the investigation the girl told a child interviewer that she did tell an adult about the abuse before she made the disclosure in the medical office but that adult did not take action and the abuse continued.

JPD officers would like to remind residents that sexual abuse of children is happening regularly in Alaska and all disclosures of abuse from children should be reported immediately so those claims can be investigated. When abuse is reported, law enforcement and child protective services officials coordinate with each other to make sure the child is in a safe place and not available to the alleged abuser. Then the investigation begins to verify or disprove the allegations.

Hayward was lodged at the Ketchikan Correctional Center and will make his first court appearance in Juneau telephonically at 2:15 this afternoon.