Hardin

A Northeast Lauderdale JROTC instructor has been arrested by the Picayune Police Department for alleged inappropriate conduct with students, authorities said. 

Picayune detectives and the State Attorney General’s Office’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force arrested Steve Todd Hardin, an instructor with the Navy Junior Reserved Officer Training Corps (JROTC) at Northeast Lauderdale High School, at the school on Wednesday, police said.

Picayune police charged Hardin, a former teacher at Picayune Memorial High School, with six counts of sexual battery of a minor. 

“Hardin is a person who was in a position of authority and abused his authority when it came to his alleged sexual conduct with students,” Picayune Police Chief Bryan Dawsey said in a news release. “An alleged sexual predator has been removed from the schools and the streets of our cities and this state.”

The arrest follows an indictment in Pearl River County, where Hardin was taken to be held at the Lenior-Rowell correctional facility, Assistant Chief Jeremy Magri told the Picayune Item newspaper. 

Brent Harrell, the assistant superintendent for the Picayune School District, said he couldn’t comment on the arrest because involves a personnel issue.  

Dawsey said in the release the Picayune Police Department would prosecute Hardin, 48, to the fullest extent of the law. 

Hardin, who lives in the 2700 block of 45th Street, Meridian, worked with children training in the JROTC program at Northeast Lauderdale High School.

Lauderdale County School District Superintendent Randy Hodges said he couldn’t comment on the arrest Thursday because he was out of town and hadn’t been briefed on the case. 

The release didn’t give details of the investigation but said the arrest resulted from complaints received by the Picayune Police Department and Picayune School District. 

“Our hearts and prayers go out to the victim and the victim’s family and we hope that the arrest of this predator will help bring some peace of mind to the family,” Dawsey said.