A former member of the Sumter County School Board has been jailed on a child sex charge.
Ken Jones, 75, who served for nearly 20 years on the school board, continued to be held without bond on Thursday in the Marion County Jail.
He was arrested on Tuesday by the Ocala Police Department on a Sumter County warrant charging him with lewd or lascivious molestation against a minor. Details of that warrant have not been made public.
Jones was a close associate of former Sumter School Superintendent Richard Shirley. In 2016, Jones took it upon himself to hire a Citrus County School Board attorney to “swiftly” look into allegations that Shirley had leaned on school employees for political contributions and to campaign for his re-election. Jones’ hurry-up investigation exonerated Shirley, who retired from office in 2024. Earlier this year, Shirley was named in a report from the Office of Inspector General. The report accused Shirley of engaging in the systemic falsification of student data by establishing so-called “shell schools” at various campuses across the county dating back to 2016.
Jones also served as the school board’s representatives on the Sumter County Value Adjustment Board.