Officer's wife calls charges 'bogus'

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- The wife of a former Chaffee police officer accused of patronizing prostitution said Wednesday that the charges against him are "bogus."

Daniel L. Ayers, 31, of Cape Girardeau, is out on a $1,500 bond, charged with four counts of misdemeanor of patronizing prostitution.

Ayers reportedly paid cash and cigarettes to two Chaffee women on different occasions to remove articles of clothing and perform various sexual acts with each other, according to the court complaint.

Mary Ayers, Daniel's wife, said the charges are a conspiracy by police to silence and discredit him for plans to go public with alleged wrongdoings he witnessed at the Chaffee Police Department.

"These charges are bogus, and the truth will come out," she said. "My husband is a good cop. People are calling us up and saying they know this isn't true."

She wouldn't comment on specific accusations Wednesday; however, the couple is holding a news conference today in Chaffee with their attorney where more details will surface, she said.

Daniel Ayers was a police officer with the Chaffee Police Department for about a year and a half before he was fired Jan. 26, she said.

While Mary Ayers doesn't remember the reason given at the time for his dismissal, she believes it is connected to her husband's reported knowledge of police wrongdoing.

Scott County Sheriff Rick Walter said Chaffee police chief Martin Keys contacted his office after a woman made the allegations against Daniel Ayers. The sheriff's office investigated because Keys did not want to perform an internal investigation in such a small department, Walter said.

According to the sheriff's report, Ayers allegedly paid the two women cash and cigarettes on more than one occasion to expose their breasts to him and "make out" with each other while nude. When Ayers reportedly offered the two women a carton of cigarettes to perform oral sex on each other, they refused, the report said.

There is some discrepancy in the age of the two women involved in the court complaint, which lists April Mayberry and Jessica Smiley as being under age 18. The Scott County Sheriff's Department report said Mayberry is 19 and Smiley is 21.

Neither Keys nor Scott County Prosecuting Attorney Paul Boyd could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Walter said charges weren't being sought against the two women for prostitution now, although the case is still under investigation.

"I think that it's possible that the intimidation factor could play into this" because Ayers was a police officer, he said. "That's something we're looking at."

Mary Ayers said her husband was never interviewed during the course of the sheriff's investigation nor was he asked for his side of the story.

carel@semissourian.com

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