The St Saviour Deputy remains under investigation and is on police bail. No charges have been brought against him.
On Monday he wrote to Chief Minister John Le Fondré to formally offer his resignation from his ministerial post. Deputy Maçon was relieved of his duties when details of his arrest emerged and Senator Le Fondré took responsibility for the Children’s and Education portfolios ‘until further notice’.
Deputy Maçon was first elected as a Deputy in 2008 and was appointed Children’s Minister late last year following the resignation of Senator Sam Mézec. Deputy Maçon took on the education portfolio following the resignation of Senator Tracey Vallois in January.
In his letter he thanked the Chief Minister for the ‘opportunity to serve as part of your government.
He said: ‘Given the continuing police investigation against me and its considerable negative impact on both me and my family, I have reluctantly come to the decision that, for the good of my family, the Island and my colleagues, I should now stand down as minister. This has been an extremely difficult decision to reach, made harder as I had sincerely hoped that matters would have been long since resolved.
‘However, as they are not, I would not want this continuing situation to be used to undermine you, our colleagues on the Council of Ministers or to act as a distraction from the excellent work being done by this government.
Criticism has been levelled at Senator Le Fondré by Children’s Commissioner Deborah McMillan for not having a dedicated Children’s Minister in post.
Deputy Maçon added; ‘I should make it plain that, despite taking the decision to resign from my ministerial post, I do not accept guilt in relation to any allegation that has been made against me nor is it to be interpreted as such and if I come to be charged with a criminal offence in due course, I have every intention of fighting to clear my name.
‘Accordingly, please accept this letter as my formal resignation from my ministerial role in order that I can now solely concentrate on serving my constituents to the best of my ability.’
The Chief Minister said he will seek to bring forward a preferred candidate for the role as soon as possible.
In a statement, Senator Le Fondré said: ‘This evening I received an email from Deputy Jeremy Maçon, resigning as Minister for Education, effective immediately. I have accepted his resignation.
‘In accordance with the States of Jersey Law, I will bring forward the nomination of a candidate to take on the critical role of Minister for Education as soon as possible.
‘Given the ongoing police investigation, I will not be making any further comment on this matter.’
