TALK TO YOUR CHILDREN. TALK TO YOUR TEENS.
In 2022, we were contacted by Jenn Ableson of the Washington Post, who was interested in doing an investigative piece on two of our closed cases which were litigated in partnership with our close friend Dan Boles of the Boles Law Firm in James Island. Both cases involved minor high school students who had been abused by a school resource officer, Deputy Jamel Bradley of the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, on the campus of Spring Valley High School. Although our clients’ identities were allowed to remain anonymous by the United States District Court, much of the sworn testimony and documentary evidence detailing the warning signs provided to the Richland County Sheriff’s Department and to Richland County School District 2 was contained in the Federal Court filings. Although
the information was available to the public, little interest was shown in the case despite the thousands of students who had needlessly been exposed to the predatory conduct of Deputy Bradley at multiple schools in Richland County. Reporter Jenn Ableson learned about the widespread danger and spent over one year researching Court filings and speaking to witnesses in connection with her co-reporters Jessica Contrera and Nate Jones. The research culminated in detailed exposé that was published the day prior to Deputy Bradley’s sentencing for the crimes of sexual battery with a student and first-degree assault and battery. Although the prosecutor worked out a plea deal which allowed Bradley’s five-year prison sentence to be suspended to three years’ probation and to allow Bradley to remain free from registering on the sex offender registry, fortunately the South Carolina Circuit Court rejected a portion of plea agreement and ultimately required Deputy Bradley to register as a sex offender. Over the course of the last 16 years, we have had the unfortunate occasion to represent a series of young men
and women who have been sexually abused at schools, at overnight summer camps, and by law enforcement officials assigned to investigate their cases. Every single one of these cases had a common thread —the perpetrator selected a victim whom he thought was unlikely to report the abuse to his or her parents or relatives. The statistics in this regard are alarming. Medical journals report that only 9% of school employee sexual misconduct cases are reported. A Lowcountry psychologist who agreed to testify in the two Richland County cases involving Deputy Bradley noted that “an adolescent’s ability to perceive the wrongfulness of educator sexual misconduct is different from that of an adult,” and as a result “disclosures are delayed by years from the time the abuse occurred.” Sexual predators in a school, camp, and extracurricular activity setting rely on the natural reluctance of children and teens to report abuse. The South Carolina Legislature has attempted to combat this tendency of minors to delay reporting abuse by passing a statute that allows anyone who is sexually abused
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GIVING BACK Thanksgiving is a holiday that brings families and communities together around the country. It is a time to share a delicious homemade meal with loved ones and to express gratitude for the company and comfort of others. However, when circumstances make it difficult, if not impossible, to provide the Thanksgiving experience our families yearn for and deserve, the holiday season can turn from a day of gratitude to disappointment. 9th Annual Turkey Giveaway Supports Families in Need
comfort and festivities to focus on the essentials. That is why we began hosting our annual turkey giveaway; in the first year, we gave away 50 turkeys to families in need. By 2022, that number had grown to over 300, and we are striving to increase that number. Hurricane Helena In the aftermath of Hurricane Helena, which claimed nearly 50 lives in South Carolina and caused billions of dollars in property damage, giving back to the community that has given so much to us over the years is an especially important goal for us. When we support one another, there is no limit to what we can accomplish. We have experienced this
firsthand as the people of Georgetown embraced our firm, and through your generosity and cooperation, we have been able to grow and thrive. We have all witnessed the brutal destruction the latest storm season has wreaked across the East Coast, and supporting one another, even in our own small way, can help to heal those wounds. That is why we are proud to host our ninth annual turkey giveaway on Nov. 25, the Monday before Thanksgiving.
We saw this personally when, nearly a decade ago, floods impacted many in our community of Georgetown. People had to spend what they had to rebuild the lives they had lost. They sacrificed
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