Mayor of small Georgia town arrested on child molestation charges

Kelly serves as the mayor of Climax, after being elected in November 2021 with 22 votes, according to election results. Kelly also works at the Decatur County School District, but officials said there is no indication that the alleged acts are related to his employment.

The couple couldn’t be immediately reached for comment on Monday.

According to the Bainbridge High School website, Joseph Kelly is a math teacher. In 2019, he was named Decatur County Teacher of the Year.

In a statement, the school system said they could not comment on “any ongoing investigation associated with DCS personnel.”

“As a school system, we will take appropriate and immediate action in response to the investigation,” the statement reads.

On Saturday, the sheriff’s office requested the Georgia Bureau of Investigation look into allegations that Kelly had sexual conduct with multiple minors, the agency sheriff’s office said. The couple were arrested later that day by the GBI and Decatur Sheriff’s Office investigators and booked into the Decatur County Jail.

Both have since been released on bond, with Kelly’s bond set at $55,400, while his wife’s bond was set at $11,400.

The GBI is still actively investigating and will turn over the investigation to the South Georgia Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office once it’s complete, the agency said in a statement.

Climax is located near the Georgia-Florida border and has a population of about 270 people, according to 2020 U.S. Census data.

This is the second south Georgia mayor to be arrested in the past week, after Camilla’s mayor Kelvin Owens was arrested on election interference charges on Thursday.