Harrison County youth jail guard resigns amid sex investigation

HARRISON COUNTY -- A private security officer assigned to work in security at the Harrison County Youth Detention Center abruptly resigned Friday amid allegations he contacted a 17-year-old through an online advertisement and met her at a Gulfport hotel, authorities confirmed.

The guard had been employed by Mississippi Security Police for eight years and worked the entire time at the youth jail, MSP chief operations officer Eddie Stewart told the Sun Herald. MSP, he said, placed the guard on administrative leave as soon as Biloxi police called it to report the allegations.

"MSP was advised this was not related to his employment with MSP," Stewart said.

Biloxi Police Chief John Miller said his department received the complaint, but the alleged incident occurred outside its jurisdiction.

"The allegations were forwarded to the Gulf Coast Cyber Crimes Task Force and we are looking into it," said Biloxi police Sgt. Donnie Dobbs, the task force commander.

Dobbs would not elaborate except to say the investigation was ongoing.

Authorities said the security guard contacted the teen via Craigslist.com.

MSP is a professional security management company with its corporate office in Pascagoula. It provides trained security personnel, but the guards are not law enforcement officers. Its clients include the Harrison and Jackson county youth jails, the Jackson County Port Authority, Chevron and BP along with Southern Gulf LNG.

The Sun Herald does not identify suspects in sex cases unless they have been charged with a crime.

This story was originally published November 18, 2015 at 7:00 PM with the headline "Harrison County youth jail guard resigns amid sex investigation ."