A Hayneville Middle School janitor has resigned from his position following allegations of enticing a child and sexual abuse, second degree.

Lee Andrew Saffold, 46, faces a preliminary hearing on Dec. 17.

Lowndes County School Superintendent Dr. Daniel Boyd has confirmed that an internal investigation by school officials resulted in no evidence to corroborate the allegations against Saffold, who was arrested on Oct. 24 for an incident that allegedly occurred at Hayneville Middle School on Sept. 30.

“On Sept. 30, it was reported by a student that Mr. Saffold had touched her inappropriately,” Boyd said.

According to Boyd, the principal contacted Department of Human Resources and Saffold was placed on leave with pay pending an investigation. Boyd said Saffold was on leave for approximately seven days. He said Saffold reported back to work at the Central Office Oct. 11 and was placed at Central Elementary where he worked until his arrest.

On Oct. 31, a special called meeting was held and Saffold’s resignation was approved by the Lowndes County Board of Education.

Boyd said Saffold resigned “not because he said he was guilty.”

“(Saffold) resigned because he said he didn’t want negative publicity involving this incident to involve the school district,” Boyd said.

“He’s not an employee of our district anymore. He has resigned.

“We did our internal investigation, and we did not find any evidence to corroborate what the student was saying. So, from a school district perspective, we’re done with this particular situation.”