Parents demand Henley resign from school board for supporting for convicted sex offender
HERNANDO, Miss. — Parents and community members, including the stepfather of a child abuse victim, publicly confronted DeSoto County Schools board member Michele Henley at a meeting Thursday, demanding her resignation for her support of a former youth minister convicted of child sexual battery.
The meeting was the first time Henley faced her detractors in person since the controversy erupted. Henley wrote a character reference letter for Lindsey Whiteside, a former youth minister who pleaded guilty to the sexual battery of a minor.
Whiteside received a three-year house arrest sentence, which sparked widespread outrage.
“I am my daughter’s voice,” said Tyler Littlejohn, the victim’s stepfather, addressing the board. “You wrote a letter on behalf of yours. I’m here defending mine.”
Littlejohn, who identified himself as an educator, accused Henley of blindly supporting a “predator” and called for her to step down.
“You are a predator-sympathizing school board member,” Littlejohn said. “Stop embarrassing the school board. Stop embarrassing yourself. Stop embarrassing the school district that our kids are a part of.”
Henley listened as multiple speakers condemned her actions.
“You cowardly refused to stand up for a child that attended school in your district,” said Michelle Longtown, who stated she was in the courtroom when Henley read her letter of support after the victim’s impact statement. “You stood with an adult… who has confessed to sexual battery of a child.”
Hope Hughes, a former district teacher, called for the “immediate resignation of Michele Henley and every single DCS employee who wrote a letter of support for this admitted pedophile.”
Henley did not respond to the public comments during the meeting.
The controversy stems from Henley’s public support for Whiteside, who was sentenced to house arrest and probation despite prosecutors noting 64,000 pages of evidence. District Attorney Matthew Barton has publicly called the sentence “an absolute abomination of justice” and illegal under state law.
Since the state sentencing, Whiteside has been arrested by federal authorities on new charges of allegedly transporting her victim across state lines for sexual abuse.
While Henley cannot be forced from her elected office, the school board previously voted to remove her from her post as board president. The board, which has also urged her to resign, elected District 3 board member Jerald Wheeler as the new president.
