James Clay Mayo, 25, was convicted of statutory rape, child molestation, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor in Dade County Superior Court on April 16, 2024.
In Late 2021, Mayo, who was 23 years old at the time, began a sexual relationship with a 13 year old minor child whom he met over social media. In February 2022, Dade County 911 received a call of a suspicious vehicle backed into a dark area of someone’s property at night. As Dade County deputies arrived in the area the vehicle was observed committing a traffic violation and was stopped. Deputy Sledge approached the vehicle and, while speaking with the driver James Clay Mayo, he noticed the minor female in the passenger seat and could smell alcohol coming from the vehicle. Deputies also noticed that Mayo had a picture of the minor child on his instrument cluster. Eventually, Mayo would admit that he purchased the alcohol for the minor child; however he denied being in a relationship with the minor child. Mayo was subsequently arrested for providing alcohol to a minor.
The next day, Mayo was interviewed by Detective Misty McConathy of the Dade County Sheriff’s office. At first, Mayo denied being in a relationship with the child, giving varying accounts about how he met the child and why she was with him in his vehicle the night before. Eventually, Mayo admitted that he was in a relationship with the child and that he had sex with the child on multiple occasions.
On April 15, 2024, James Clay Mayo’s trial was held before a Dade County jury. Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit (LMJC) Assistant District Attorney David Wolfe presented the case to the jury over the course of the two-day trial presided over by Superior Court Judge Brian House. At trial, digital evidence recovered from Mayo’s phone was presented to the jury. This evidence included text messages between Mayo and some of his friends where Mayo was told by multiple people that the minor child was only 13 years old. In other text messages, Mayo admits that the child’s mother and other family members told him of the child’s age and also advised him not to come around her. In addition to the text messages, pictures and videos showing Mayo and the minor child in various states of undress in bed were presented to the jury. Upon the completion of the two-day trial, the jury deliberated for less than 30 minutes before finding Mayo guilty of statutory rape, child molestation, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Assistant District Attorney Wolfe was assisted both before and during the trial by Victim Witness Advocate Ashley Nicholson and District Attorney’s Office Investigator Christy Smith, both of whom played an in invaluable role in the meeting and organizing of all the witnesses as well as the organizing, collating, production of the over 250 pictures, videos, and text messages recovered from Mayo’s phone.
Mayo remains in the Dade County Jail awaiting sentencing. He is facing up to 20 years in prison.
