Social Worker Admitted To Having Sex With 13-Year-Old Client

A social worker reportedly admitted to having sex with a 13-year-old boy she was assigned to counsel during a three-way call with the boy's mother and local police.

Payton Shires, 24, was arrested last Friday (October 6) on charges of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor after concerns were raised over text messages shared between the two, the Columbus Dispatch reports. The boy's mother reportedly contacted police on September 27 after discovering the messages and believed "something inappropriate was happening between her son and Ms. Shires after seeing messages asking if he had deleted the videos and asking if his mom had seen the videos or messages," according to the Columbus Police Department.

The boy's phone was surrendered to police for a forensic evaluation which found a video of the teen and Shires, who was previously employed by the National Youth Advocate Program (NYAP), which specializes in foster-care families, engaging in sexual conduct. The boy reportedly told Columbus Police detectives that he and Shires engaged in intercourse at least two times, WSYX reports.

On Thursday (October 5), police conducted a controlled, three-way call in which Shires admitted to the boy's mother that they had engaged in sexual conduct. The 24-year-old's bond was set at just over $500,000 in Franklin County Municipal Court last Friday and she is scheduled for a hearing next Monday (October 16).