• Tiffany Heynard, first female and youngest mayor of Dolton, Illinois, is under fire for hiring Lavelle Redmond as code enforcement officer 
  • Redmond, 46, was hired on September 20 for the position with a $31,200 annual salary, and it requires him to inspect homes and businesses 
  • Redmond served 24 years in prison for his role in 1991 gang rape of two girls, ages 13 and 14 
  • Redmond was released on parole in 2016 and is listed in sex offender registry
  • Heynard, who was sworn in as mayor in May, defended her hiring decision, saying she believes in ‘second chances’  

The new mayor of a village in a Chicago suburb unleashed a firestorm after it has emerged that she hired a registered child sex offender who worked on her campaign to be the town’s code enforcement officer – a job that requires him to inspect inside homes and businesses.

Trustees in the Village of Dolton – a community of 23,000 located just south of Chicago – say they are appalled that Mayor Tiffany Henyard offered Lavelle Redmond a municipal job without consulting them.

Despite facing backlash from village leaders and residents, Heynard has defended her hiring decision, saying she believes in ‘second chances’ for ex-convicts who had repaid their debts to society.

Tiffany Heynard, the first female and youngest mayor of Dolton, Illinois, is under fire for hiring her former campaign worker Lavelle Redmond  (pictured together) as a code enforcement officer