The mayor of an Arkansas town who was praised as the youngest black mayor in history has been accused of paying off a 14-year-old boy to keep quiet about inappropriate Snapchat messages.
Earle Mayor Jaylen Smith, 21, is being investigated by the Arkansas State Police after receiving a tip from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
‘The mayor did pay my son $500 to not tell me, but he ended up telling me anyway.’
A woman told WREG-TV that the mayor had met her son in 2024 at Earle High School, where her son attended. The mayor gave her son clothes and money, according to the woman, who asked to remain anonymous, and then made sexual advances via Snapchat messages.
She provided correspondence from a person she said was the mayor, but WREG said it was not able to independently verify that the account belonged to the mayor.
She said that she told her son to tell the man to stop contacting him but that he persisted. She alleges that the man then paid him money to keep it quiet.
“The mayor did pay my son $500 to not tell me, but he ended up telling me anyway,” she said.
Smith denied the claims vehemently in a statement Friday.
“I want to speak directly and clearly to the people of Earle: the accusations being reported are false. I am innocent. Truth matters, and in time, the truth will stand on its own,” reads the statement in part.
“While I would like to directly and unequivocally address the allegations against me, I have been advised to reserve any substantive statements regarding the allegations until a later date,” he added.
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WREG reported that the superintendent of Earle Schools expressed concern in Nov. 2024 over the mayor visiting the campus. The district’s attorney sent a letter asking the mayor to ask permission prior to visits and to express the purpose of those visits.
Smith had been elected in 2022 just months after graduating from high school when he was 18 years old. He is not currently facing charges.
Earle is a town of about 1,700 residents located 30 minutes west of Memphis.
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