Columbia officer fired after prostitution charge

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A Columbia police officer has been fired after being accused of having sex with a teen prostitute.

Thirty-two-year-old officer Mark Cornish was fired Wednesday.

Columbia Police Department spokeswoman Jennifer Timmons says Cornish had been with the department since May 2009.

Timmons said Cornish was charged last week with one count of prostitution near a Richland County motel. The sheriff’s department says Cornish fled in his patrol car when deputies arrived after getting a tip that an officer was meeting with a prostitute.

Sheriff Leon Lott says investigators determined Cornish had paid the teen for sex and had met with her more than once.

The teen also was charged with prostitution.

Cornish had been a school resource officer.