Married MS Coast teacher charged with sex crime said he planned to elope with teen
An Ocean Springs High physics teacher admitted having sex with a minor student in her car and at his home for months before his arrest, a criminal investigator at the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department said Tuesday.
James Donald Hawkins II, 38, made those admissions and more during an interview with Sheriff’s Capt. Kristen Johnson, the investigator said during a probable cause hearing Tuesday.
Hawkins is being held on a charge of sexual battery, though additional charges are expected. His attorney, Cameron McCormick, wants Judge Calvin Taylor to grant a bond for his client pending indictment.
However, the investigator and Assistant District Bill Barrett want Hawkins to remain in custody pending indictment based on what Hawkins said during interviews.
In those interviews, Hawkins said he had sex with the student, 17, for at least one month at the home in Fort Bayou Estates that he shared with his wife and young toddler and in a car in a Walmart parking lot.
The investigation into alleged wrongdoing by Hawkins began when the teen and her parents reported the alleged crimes on Nov. 30.
Afterward, the teen told the investigator the relationship started when she was upset about something that had happened at school, and Hawkins moved in to comfort her.
Though he was married, Johnson said, Hawkins said the relationship between him and the girl had moved quicker than he thought it would and that the two planned to elope in Louisiana.
In an earlier court appearance, Hawkins said he didn’t know that what he was doing with the girl was a crime.
Judge Taylor set bond at $150,000 and ordered Hawkins to stay away from the victim and her family. The judge added that Hawkins is not to go by the victims home or otherwise. ”If you happen to bump into her in public you need to leave that place immediately” the judge said.
Hawkins had been teaching at Ocean Springs High for over a year. Before that, he worked in physics as a graduate student at Mississippi State University, according to his LinkedIn profile.
His profile said he obtained a bachelor’s degree at the university between 2005 and 2019 and worked various times as a professor’s assistant and physics lab graduate teaching assistant.
Hawkins was fired from his position at Ocean Springs High after his arrest.
This story was originally published December 5, 2023 at 10:39 AM.
