Ketchikan City Council member Jack Shay has resigned his seat, after being arrested on 10 counts of possession of child pornography.
Shay is a former mayor of both the Ketchikan Gateway Borough and City of Ketchikan, a former member of the Ketchikan School Board, and a past president of Alaska Municipal League. He also served for a time as head of the Alaska Division of Employment Security.
The 80-year-old Shay was arrested Friday night after a computer shop worker contacted Ketchikan police about images he reportedly found on Shay’s computer. The business was required by law to report the child pornography to police.
Deputy Chief Josh Dossett says Shay had taken the computer to the shop because it would not print.
“The tech put the computer and printer together and turned it on and the printer began to printout out pictures that were already queued in the computer,” Dossett says. “Several of those pictures were of child pornography.”
Dossett says police officers obtained a warrant and searched Shay’s computer and residence. He says child pornographic images were found on top of a printer in a home office. Officers also found other media.
“I have a detective and two officers working this case full time,” he says. “They’re basically working their way through the different media.”
Shay was arraigned in Ketchikan Superior Court Saturday morning and pleaded innocent. He was released on $30,000 bail.
Ketchikan City Mayor Lew Williams III says Shay was not forced to resign his seat. He says Shay told him he thought it best to do so.
Williams says the Ketchikan City Council will appoint a replacement and expects the city to begin advertising for applicants soon.
Shay is a well-known figure in Ketchikan, who has steeped himself in the city’s political establishment. He is a founder of First City Players and has been a Grand Marshall of the community’s Fourth of July parade.
