- 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.
