23-year-old Georgia mayor removed from office after city alleges improper contact with teen, misuse of funds

Lawmakers in an Atlanta suburb removed the city’s young mayor, accusing him of misusing a municipal credit card and engaging in inappropriate, sexually explicit communications with a teenager, officials said Sunday.

The City Council of Stockbridge, Georgia, voted 3-0 to remove Jayden Williams, 23, from office about 10 months after his election to lead the city of nearly 30,000 people that’s about 20 miles southeast of Atlanta.

“The City of Stockbridge confirms that the City Council has taken formal action concerning the Office of Mayor following proceedings conducted pursuant to applicable City processes,” according to a city statement on Sunday. “As a result of that action, the Mayor has been removed from office.”

The city hired a law firm to investigate allegations against the youngest mayor in Stockbridge history.

The probe found that, late last year, Williams flirted with and exchanged explicit images of himself with a high school student, who had just turned 18.

The two had been chatting electronically, via text and Instagram instant messages, about the student joining Williams’ mentorship program.

When presented with text messages and evidence of these photos, Williams confirmed he had exchanged nude pictures.

Williams had earlier told a local reporter that he didn’t remember whether he had ever exchanged illicit images with this young man.

“Is getting nude photographs via text message so unremarkable to you that you don’t remember when you get them?” lawyer Robbie Ashe, representing investigators, asked then-Mayor Williams during a marathon council meeting on Saturday.

Williams insisted that sharing such material is commonplace for younger Americans.

“It’s not memorable nor is it abnormal for somebody my age,” he said. “That’s not abnormal for somebody my age.”

The city now has six months to schedule a special election for position, according to acting mayor Elton Alexander.

“Removing Stockbridge Mayor Jayden Williams from office was a tough decision; it brings a fair and equitable close to multiple troubling accusations,” Elton Alexander, city council member and mayor pro-tem, said in a statement.

Williams could not be immediately reached by NBC News for comment on Monday.

But a lawyer for Williams said the allegations against his client didn’t warrant removal from office. Attorney Robert Kenner also noted that any illicit communications with that young man happened in December last year, before his client took office.

The former mayor also admitted to making improper purchases on his city-issued credit card, but claimed it was an accident — because the municipal card is the same color and looks similar to his personal card.

The city has been reimbursed for those purchases, Williams said, and no criminal charges have been filed against him.

“Tonight was very disappointing,” Kenner told reporters after the council meeting on Saturday night. “I don’t believe that it was based on any evidence.”

Williams defeated incumbent Anthony Ford, 2,909 votes to 2,489 votes, or about 54.8% to 45.1% in November last year

Stockbridge operates under a city manager form of government so the mayor’s role is largely ceremonial. The mayor only votes on council business to break ties.

“The City will continue to conduct municipal business and provide services to residents, businesses, and the community without interruption,” according to the city. “The City Manager, department leadership, and City employees will continue performing their respective duties in accordance with applicable law and City policies.”

Alexander, the interim mayor, said he will not run for that job.

“I have no desire to be mayor,” he told reporters on Saturday. “We have a council-manager form of government. What that means is the mayor’s position has very few powers in the city of Stockbridge. For me to run for mayor means giving up my ability to vote and I would never do that.”