OXFORD – The mayor of Walnut Grove appeared in Federal Court on Tuesday, Oct. 25, on charges he sexually assaulted an inmate while employed as warden of the local jail and that he later tried to cover up the crime.
In November 2009, William Grady Sims served as Mayor of Walnut Grove and Warden of the Walnut Grove Transition Center, a secured facility housing inmates in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC).
On Oct. 18, 2011, a federal grand jury indicted Sims for the alleged sexual assault of an inmate of the Walnut Grove Transition Center, while acting under color of law, willfully depriving the inmate of the right to be free from sexual abuse. Additionally, the indictment charges that, in March 2010, Sims told the inmate to lie to investigators regarding the alleged sexual assault, with the intent to influence the inmate’s testimony in an official proceeding, namely, a federal grand jury proceeding.
Sims was released on a $10,000 bond and his trial is set for Jan. 9, 2012.
Sims was first elected in 1981 and is in his eighth term as mayor, but he is no longer warden of the Walnut Grove facility.
The Associated Press reported that court records only identified the inmate by initials and did not say whether the prisoner was male or female. The Walnut Grove Transition Center is privately run, but houses both men and women.
State Auditor Stacey Pickering announced Tuesday, in a seperate matter, that Sims has been ordered to pay $31,530 for using city employees and equipment to work on private prisons in the area, including the one he ran.
“The demand issued against Mayor Sims represents multiple instances where city employees were directed by the mayor to do work at a private prison facilities located in Walnut Grove,” Pickering said in a news release. “Taxpayers of Walnut Grove have been paying for equipment and labor to do work at these facilities that are for-profit, private prisons. In addition, town equipment and labor have been used on private property at taxpayer expense.”
Walnut Grove has a population of about 1,900 and is about 65 miles northeast of Jackson.
The indictment is the result of a joint FBI and Leake County Sheriff’s Office investigation.
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