Tag: South Carolina

SC: SC Legislature can’t keep delaying fix on sex-offender registry

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Source: postandcourier.com 4/29/22 Even though it’s supposed to be independent and uninfluenced by the political branches of government, the S.C. Supreme Court still manages to be a good team player. Too bad the Legislature isn’t. Nearly a year ago, as The Post and Courier’s Seanna Adcox reminds us, the high court ruled unanimously that South Carolina’s toughest-in-the-nation sex offender registry is unconstitutional, because it gives an unappealable lifetime sentence to people most of us wouldn’t think of as dangerous sex offenders. Think 15-year-old boys who had consensual sex with their 15-year-old girlfriends,…

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SC: No sex-offender status for men convicted under anti-sodomy law in South Carolina

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Source: postandcourier.com 4/22/22 COLUMBIA — Men convicted under South Carolina’s anti-sodomy law will no longer be required to register as a sex offender, according to a settlement agreement. The settlement was reached April 22 between Attorney General Alan Wilson, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel and the state’s ACLU chapter. ACLU attorneys filed the federal suit four months prior in the U.S. District Court of South Carolina on behalf of “John Doe.” The South Carolina man said he was convicted in 2001 under the state’s “buggery” law for…

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SC: Apparent leniency in 19-year-old serial rapist sentencing has been attributed by many to his father’s job at the District Attorney’s office

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Source: meaww.com 4/15/22 Bowen Turner’s sentence of probation in one convicted case after being accused of raping three girls has led to widespread public fury. The controversy has also sparked an interest in his personal life. Orangeburg County Judge Markley Dennis sentenced 19-year-old Turner to just five years of probation despite charges on two counts of first-degree criminal sexual misconduct for separate assaults in recent years. Furthermore, the perp will not have to register as a sex offender after serving probation. Bowen was also cited for violating the terms of…

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SC: Former deputy, victims advocate arrested, faces registrant embezzlement charges

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Source: wpde.com 4/11/22 CLARENDON COUNTY, S.C. (WACH) — On Friday, a former Clarendon County deputy and victims advocate was arrested by South Carolina Law Enforcement Division agents. Sabrina Mellerson, 34, has been arrested and faces charges of misconduct in office and embezzlement. SLED conducted the investigation at the request of Clarendon County Sheriff Tim Baxley.  According to reports, Mellerson is accused of taking money from sex offender registrants in her role as a deputy at the Clarendon County Sheriff’s Office. On April 7, Mellerson confessed to SLED Agents that she…

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SC: Proposed Horry County law would ban any type of sex offender from owning child-focused businesses

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Source: wsav.com 3/9/22 HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — Sex offenders in Horry County could be banned from operating child-oriented businesses, under a new proposal. The push comes after a local business owner and parent spoke to the Horry County County Council in September about a local sex offender who wanted to park his ice cream truck in the business owner’s lot and sell ice cream to children. Adam Wiseman told county council that his neighbor suggested he should look up the ice cream truck’s owner. Wiseman asked the council to…

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SC: Bill sets parameters for South Carolina sex offenders to get off registry [create new three-tier registry]

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Source: wspa.com 2/25/22 COLUMBIA, S.C. (WBTW) — A proposed bill in the South Carolina Senate would set out guidelines for convicted rapists to petition a court to be removed from the sex offender registry. The bill is in response to a South Carolina Supreme Court ruling last year stating that it’s unconstitutional for the state to not have a process that would allow sex offenders to be removed from the registry. The bill was proposed by Sen. Greg Hembree (R-Horry County) on Feb. 16 and remains in the Senate Committee…

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SC: It’s 2022 and these gay men are still on the sex offender registry for consensual sex

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Source: queerty.com 1/3/22 A lawsuit filed last month revealed that at least 19 people are still required to register as sex offenders due to past convictions under South Carolina’s “buggery” law for having consensual gay sex. The SC law, along with other states’ anti-sodomy laws, were made invalid in 2003, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Texas’ anti-sodomy law was unconstitutional. While pardons were granted for those targeted by the laws, the convictions still require them to remain on the sex offenders list in South Carolina and two other…

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SC: Lawsuit: SC man says he still has to register as sex offender for having sex with another man

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Source: live5news.com 12/22/21 CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) – A South Carolina man is suing Attorney General Alan Wilson and SLED Chief Mark Keel, claiming that he still has to register as a sex offender for a buggery charge in which he says he was convicted, and later pardoned, for having consensual sex with another man. The man, identified as “John Doe” in the lawsuit, says he was convicted for the charge in 2001, two years before the Supreme Court ruled that laws that criminalized homosexual sex violated due process and are…

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SC bill would prohibit sex offenders from working, volunteering around kids

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[live5news.com – 1/15/19] MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) – Right now, registered sex offenders are allowed to work and volunteer around kids, but a South Carolina bill introduced last week in the State House of Representatives could change that. The bill says it would make it “unlawful for a sex offender to work or perform volunteer service with or around minor children under certain circumstances unless approved by a circuit court order that requires the offender’s employment or volunteer service be recorded in the offender’s sex offender registry file, to provide…

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SC: Can sex offenders stay at Red Cross shelters?

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With Hurricane Florence barreling towards the coast of the Carolinas, residents in multiple counties have been urged to evacuate either out of town or to emergency shelters. But what about safety at shelters? ABC News asked the American Red Cross if sex offenders were allowed to stay at shelters with others residents. Full Article Related links: VERIFY: Yes, sex offenders can stay at public shelters during Florence in NC [wcnc.com – 9/15/18]  

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SC: Charleston sheriff unplugs mugshot websites

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postandcourier.com – 5/26/18] Once upon a time, we named and shamed by putting the accused in stocks on the town square. Now we put them on the internet. I am omitting the names because it is impossible to sort the innocent from the guilty. “South Carolina Hottie Bookings,” on a website called Arrests.org, isn’t troubled by such details. On this one website, there are mugshots of 1,000 women arrested in South Carolina over the past two years, many on nothing-burger charges. Mind you, not one of them was convicted of…

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SC: Sheriff’s office assistant stole money from sex offenders, SLED says

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[wyff4.com 5/4/18] KERSHAW COUNTY, S.C. (WIS contributed to this article) — A 34-year-old woman is accused of stealing money collected from registered sex offenders while she was assistant to a South Carolina sheriff, according to an arrest warrant. The State Law Enforcement Division arrested Samantha West Connell, of Kershaw County, on a charge of embezzlement of public funds, value less than $10,000. Advertisement SLED agents said the thefts were committed between January 2015 and April 2016, while Connell was employed as an administrative assistant at the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office.…

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SC: ‘Skinhead’ said God told him to kill sex offenders, wanted conviction tossed out

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An unapologetic white supremacist serving three life sentences for killing two people in 2013 was denied a new trial Friday. He claimed God told him to kill sex offenders. Jeremy Moody, 34, of Union County, pleaded guilty in May 2014 to two counts of murder, burglary, kidnapping and other charges. He later filed a post conviction relief lawsuit claiming his court-appointed lawyers should have done more in the case to explore his mental illness. Moody asked for the convictions to be tossed out. Full Article

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SC: Teens can be kept on sex-offender registry for life

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South Carolina can continue to require some teens convicted of serious sex crimes to appear on the state’s public sex-offender registry and wear an electronic monitor for the rest of their lives, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. A boy from Spartanburg County who was 15 when he sexually assaulted a 5-year-old boy and ended up on the registry challenged the law. Full Article

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SC: Bill would prevent registered sex offenders from owning locksmith businesses

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 A bill that would require locksmiths to undergo background checks before entering your home or car is now closer to becoming law. The bill was passed unanimously in the South Carolina State House of Representatives and is now making its way through the state Senate. The bill was drafted after a North Myrtle Beach sexual molestation case involving a locksmith. Full Article

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SC: Columbia lawmaker pushes for juvenile sex offender registry reform

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COLUMBIA — A South Carolina lawmaker is on a mission to change the way the state treats juvenile sex offenders. House Minority Leader Rep. Todd Rutherford, D-Columbia, has introduced a bill that would allow teens who have been convicted of any sex offense and have been placed on the offenders registry to petition the courts to remove their names once they turn 21. … “By branding them that early, we have destroyed their lives,” he said. “We’ve got to figure out how to make it better.” He isn’t alone in…

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