State Senator Whitney Westerfield has apologized for a text that has been linked to a request for clemency in the case of convicted sex offender Dayton Jones.
In a statement released Wednesday evening, Senator Westerfield said, “the decision to send a message on his family’s behalf asking for consideration of a commutation was, in hindsight, ill-informed, and for that, I am deeply sorry.” He added, “while most are not of such magnitude, in future constituent requests for pardon relief, I will be more judicious, and above all, I will make every effort to get the victim’s input.”
Westerfield mentioned he has received and acted on thousands of constituent requests in his time in the legislature. He reiterated he believed the commutation of Jones’ sentence to time already served was extremely disproportionate.
Westerfield said his biggest regret is that neither the victim in this case nor any of the many others were consulted by the Governor or his team before granting this extraordinary relief. He added he should have taken that step himself.
