Wakefield High coach charged with sex offense

Jamie Lloyd Ayers, 42, of 321 Yellow Poplar Ave. in Wake Forest, is accused of having sex with a student between June 2011 and March 2013, according to arrest warrants.

Raleigh police said the female student is now 18 years old.

Ayers, a health and physical education teacher, leads the girls softball team and is an assistant coach for the football team at Wakefield High School.

Officials with Wake County Public School System said Ayers was first employed by the district in 1998 at East Cary Middle School. He has also worked at Cary High and Wakefield Middle schools. He won a teaching award in 2004.

Ayers was initially held on a $50,000 bond, which was increased to a $100,000 bond during his first court appearance Tuesday afternoon.

Wake Assistant District Attorney Boz Zellinger requested the higher bond after reviewing correspondence between Ayers and the student.

Several Wakefield students said Tuesday they were shocked to learn of Ayers' arrest and have adopted the slogan "Free Coach Ayers" to support him.

"I'm very shocked," said Jared Petterson, who had Ayers as a weightlifting coach. "This is one of the coaches we would never assume to have these charges."