Payton Shires, who allegedly filmed the sick crimes, has a 4-year-old son
Parents call on social media platforms to be 'held to account' amid push to add warning labels for children
Rose and Robert Bronstein, parents whose son committed suicide in 2022 after being viciously cyberbullied, react to Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy's push to add warning labels to social media platforms.
The regret-ridden mother of a 13-year-old boy who was groomed and raped by his adult female social worker wishes she never let the predator in her home.
In a statement read in court Thursday, the unidentified mother told Payton Shires, of Ohio, that the abuse has devastated her son and negated any faith she had in the nation's social services, the Columbus Dispatch reported.
"Instead, he was manipulated, groomed and sexually abused by Ms. Shires," the statement read, according to the local newspaper. "I regret ever letting you in my house."
Shires, 24, was sentenced to more than four years in prison and will have to register as a sex offender moving forward.
TOP COP RESIGNS AMID TURMOIL FROM SEXUAL HARASSMENT LAWSUITS
Payton Shires was sentenced to nearly 5 years in prison June 27 for raping a 13-year-old client when she was a youth counselor. (LinkedIn/ USA TODAY NETWORK)
She pleaded guilty to four counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor in May, along with other raps.
The victim's mother said she began to notice alarming texts between Shires and her son late last year – including one where the counselor asked if he had deleted certain videos.
Investigators would later recover incriminating texts and at least one video showing them engaged in sexual acts.
Police orchestrated a three-way phone call between Shires and the mother, and the social worker acknowledged the illicit relationship.
TENNESSEE TEEN TESTIFIED AGAINST TEACHER WHO SUGGESTED SHE MAY BE PREGNANT WITH HIS CHILD
Payton Shires, 24, was sentenced to nearly 5 years in prison Thursday for raping a 13-year-old boy. (X )
Shires worked with the National Youth Advocate Program, which pairs foster children and other kids with counseling and support.
Shires was terminated after the allegations came to light.
The counselor was released on $50,000 bond after her arrest, and showed up at the victim's home brandishing a gun.
The boy's mother, she ranted, had destroyed her life by alerting authorities to their relationship. Shires, police said, threatened to kill the parent.
OHIO SUSPECT ACCUSED OF KILLING TODDLER OUTSIDE GIANT EAGLE SMIRKS IN COURT AS DAD LOOKS ON
Payton Shires apologized Thursday for raping a 13-year-old boy before she was sentenced to nearly 5 years in prison. (Franklin County Sheriff's Office)
"I was not thinking rationally at the time that I showed up to the mother's house," she told the court Thursday, claiming that she was suicidal in that moment.
"I'm just thankful that she took the right steps to call the police," Shires said, reasoning that the arrest prevented her from continuing farther down a dark path.
Shires asked Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Judge Mark Serrott for mercy at the sentencing, telling the court that she has a 4-year-old son and suffered from longstanding and untreated mental illness.
But Serrott slammed Shires for her actions.
"He was a child," the judge said before handing down the term. "He was trying to get the help he needed."
Rebecca Rosenberg is a veteran journalist and book author with a focus on crime and criminal justice. Email tips to
