South Carolina Injury Lawyer Blog

Charleston child sexual abuse attorneys recently learned that a South Carolina charter school teacher was arrested and charged with having sex with a 15-year-old student high school student. The teacher allegedly had sex with his 15-year-old student in a wooded area near the school’s premises on March 20, 2010.

The teacher taught business and computer skills at Calhoun Falls Charter School. He was charged with criminal sexual conduct with a minor and preforming a lewd act on a minor. He was arrested and charged after one of the young girl’s family members allegedly found conversations between him and the child. After discovering the conversations, the family member contacted police. Police investigated the conversations and then made the arrest.

The teacher is currently on administrative leave from Calhoun Falls Charter School while he awaits trial in Abbeville County’s jail. The young girl’s name has not been released in order to protect her privacy.

Source: The Post and Courier- “Charter school teacher arrested.” April 1, 2010.

South Carolina child injury and death lawyers would like to remind parents to talk to their children about appropriate and inappropriate interactions with adults and school staff. A new charge was brought the janitor formerly employed by Harleyville-Ridgeville Elementary School janitor.

The janitor was accused of writing a three-page love letter to an 11 year old female student. January 7, he was charged with delinquency of a minor after authorities investigated allegations of a love letter given to a female student. He is currently in Dorchester Country Detention Center being held without bail.

The new charge the janitor faces is first degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor, after allegations were made that he had sexual conduct with the same 11 year old female student. The alleged sexual conduct is reported to have taken place before the janitor wrote the three-page love letter. Dorchester County School District 4 spokeswoman said that Williams is no longer an employee of the school district.

Source: The Post and Courier- “Ex-janitor charged with sex crime.” March 5, 2010.

South Carolina sexual abuse attorneys want to warn locals about an alleged fondling case that occurred on a lowcountry bus. Gerald Limehouse, an employee of transportation company Tri-County Link, was charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct. According to the records of the Dorchester County Sherrifs office, Limehouse was arrested on Wednesday, February 17, 2010.

The sexually assaulted a South Carolina woman, whose identity has not been revealed, is a 26-year old woman who took the Limehouse’s route home daily from the adult day center she frequented. The woman’s family said that she is “mentally challenged,” and they knew that something was wrong when she told them that the bus driver and her had a “secret.”

Limehouse was arraigned and has been released after posting $100,000 in bail on Friday, February 19, 2010. Parents told authorities that their daughter told them that her and the bus driver had a special route. She then told them that Limehouse had kissed her and fondled her multiple times in the early weeks of this February. Tri-County Link has not yet released a statement and cannot be reached for comments.

Source: The Post and Courier- “Bus driver accused in fondling case.” February 23, 2010.

South Carolina sexual abuse lawyers want you to know that Circuit Judge Roger Young showed now mercy during Robert Brooks sentencing. Brooks was arrested in September 2008, on a third-degree criminal sexual assault charge. The North Charleston native had sex with the woman 2008 and went unreported for some time, until the victim told a staff member of the group home she was residing in about the assault.

The twist in the story is the most disheartening of all. The woman had an IQ of 48; therefore, she is legally unable to consent to having sex. Assistant Solicitor Tyler Whitacker explained that cases like this normally go unreported because the victims have a hard time articulating what occurred and many times do not have the ability to put into words details to incriminate their attacker.

Typically when the accused pleads guilty to a charge they receive a break in their sentencing. Not in this case. Brooks pled guilty to the third-degree criminal sexual conduct charge but did not receive a break. He was sentenced to ten years in jail. Brooks record is also tarnished with a lewd act against a minor in 1995. In ten years from now when Brooks is released he will undergo examination under the Sexually Violent Predators Act, which will determine if he is fit to be released back into society.

Source: The Post and Courier- “Man Pleads Guilty in Sex Crimes Case.” January 17, 2010.

South Carolina sexual assault lawyers know that every parent’s worst nightmare is that their child will be hurt by a sexual predator. Unfortunately, we all too often hear about children being mistreated or abused by strangers, caretakers, and even family friends. Child sexual abuse is especially appalling because of the serious long-term effects it can have on a child’s physical and mental health.

A school janitor was recently charged in connection with a sexual assault that took place at the Community House Middle School in North Carolina. Police arrested 63-year-old Christopher Gordon and charged him with sexual misdemeanor battery. The victim is a 12-year-old student.

Gordon was hired by the school in October of 2005 and was later promoted to head custodian of the school in January of 2007.

Gordon has been suspended without pay until he will be back in court on December 11, 2009. This is the third time this school year that an employee in North Carolina’s Charlotte-Mecklenberg School District has been charged with sexual assault.

Source: Live 5 News-“School janitor facing sex assault charge”- October 13, 2009.