A Pulaski County Youth Services employee, fired after police found him with his pants down and with a 14-year-old boy, has been cleared of criminal wrongdoing.
North Little Rock police charged George Edwin Haney, 28, with two counts of rape last year, Class Y felony charges that carry a potential life sentence.
Prosecutors filed the case as a Class D felony sexual assault, which has a six-year maximum, then dropped the case Tuesday after defense attorney Jeff Wankum provided proof that the teen had represented himself to Haney as being 19 years old.
Arrested in November 2017, Haney was jailed for about 2½ months before his $500,000 bail was reduced to $50,000 and he was able to post bond.
Haney, of Pine Bluff, told police when he was arrested that the encounter was consensual and that the teen had claimed to be 19.
Haney had been the director of an after-school program at Second Baptist Church on John Barrow Road. He had been with youth services for about 16 months. Authorities said he'd passed background checks before he was hired. He had also worked as a substitute teacher.
Police arrested Haney after finding him and the boy in a van parked behind Pike View Elementary School on McCain Boulevard late at night. Inside, police found Haney with his pants down and the teen wearing boxer shorts.
Metro on 11/29/2018