Ex-Georgia Police Academy instructor accused of molesting teen girl for years

In a news release, the Georgia Public Safety Training Center said it terminated Ham’s employment for “violation of policy 4.0007 Standards of Employee Conduct.”

Officials at the GPSTC then notified POST. The investigation remains ongoing.

Ham worked as the Georgia Police Academy’s division director. He was hired by the academy in July after spending more than a year as director of the state Department of Juvenile Justice’s Office of School Safety. He had previously served more than six years as an investigator with DJJ, which oversees the state’s secure facilities for troubled youth.

Before that, Ham did an eight-year stint with the LaGrange Police Department from 2008 to 2016, reaching the rank of corporal.

Prior to his termination by the police academy, all of his job departures were voluntary resignations, according to POST records.

The academy is part of the GPSTC, whose website on Thursday listed a TBA opening for its division director position. The academy teaches specialized advanced law enforcement courses to current officers in the field.

“GPA instructors are considered subject matter experts in their respective disciplines and are often recruited to teach at locations throughout the state and on a national level,” its website states.

Ham remained in jail Thursday afternoon and was being held without bond, according to an employee of the Walton sheriff’s office’s jail division.

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