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He also is alleged to have violated probation by failing to obtain gainful employment, which is a regular condition of probation.
Jeff Joines, assistant judicial division chief with the N.C. Department of Corrections, said the alleged violation involved Hess assisting his mother, Francis Hess, a Smoky Mountain faculty member, by working after school with her and members of the Health Occupation Students of America club, which she supervises.
Joines said the school's resource officer discussed the situation with Principal Kenny Nicholson, and one of them contacted probation officer Eddie Howell. After consultation with assistant district attorneys Monica Leslie and Alan Leonard, the violation report was drawn up, Joines said.
Nicholson declined to comment on the situation.
"At this time, this is an alleged technical violation and not a criminal violation," Joines said. "A technical violation is serious, but there's a big difference between it and a new criminal charge."
If Hess is found in violation of probation, the judge hearing the case will have many options, including revoking probation and clarifying conditions, Joines said.
"Our job is to monitor conditions of probation," Joines said. "If we become aware they are not being followed, we have an obligation to report it. It is truly in the court's hands."
Charges against Hess resulted after he was accused of assisting Joe Brooks, Blue Ridge athletic director, baseball coach and physical education teacher, in arranging on- and off-campus sexual liaisons between students.
Brooks pleaded guilty in July to three counts of first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, two counts of sexual activity between school personnel and a student, two counts of crime against nature and one count of taking indecent liberties with a student. He received an active sentence of not less than 64 nor more than 86 months and is being held at Mountain View Correctional Institution in Spruce Pine.
Hess and Brooks are among the defendants in a civil suit filed by the mother of one of the students involved in the scandal. Other defendants are Blue Ridge Principal Lib Balcerek, the Jackson County Board of Education, Sheriff Jim Cruzan, and former Blue Ridge student Jeremy Stewart.
Stewart was originally charged with criminal statutory rape, but those charges were dropped.
Associate Editor Lynn Hotaling contributed to this report.
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