A new lawsuit connected to a registered sex offender who worked around children at a Georgetown County church and its preschool now names South Carolina's own probation agency as a defendant, the first time the state has been directly accused of failing to supervise him. Here is what that shift means if a government agency, not just a private institution, missed the warning signs in your case.
Reviewed by Abuse Justice Center · Updated 2026-08-02
Figures drawn from the civil complaint as reported by WMBF News and the Post and Courier.
Since allegations first surfaced that a registered sex offender worked for years as a volunteer custodian at a Pawleys Island area church and its preschool, four earlier lawsuits have targeted the church, its former leadership, and the school. The newest complaint, filed this week, is the first to name the state's own probation and parole oversight body as a defendant too.
The man was convicted of a sex crime involving a minor in 2023, with probation conditions that explicitly barred him from contact with children. According to the new lawsuit, he nonetheless worked as a custodian with regular access to preschool grounds for roughly six years, and allegedly told probation officers he had no contact with children and had not been near places children gather, statements the suit says were false.
Many people assume that if a parole or probation office made a mistake, there is no way to hold it accountable, since government agencies often have broad legal protections. Those protections are real, but they are not absolute. When a lawsuit can show an agency knew about a specific, serious risk and failed to take basic steps to monitor it, a claim can sometimes proceed against the agency itself.
This complaint alleges the agency approved the man's volunteer position based only on a personal reference from church leadership, without requiring disclosure that the organization ran a preschool, and then never verified his compliance with the no-contact condition over several years.
Institutional abuse cases usually focus on the school, church, team, or facility where the abuse happened. But a supervising government agency, whether it is a probation office, a child welfare department, or a licensing board, sometimes shares responsibility if it had specific knowledge of risk and did not act on it.
If your case involves someone who was already known to authorities, on probation, registered as an offender, or under a court order restricting contact with children, it is worth having that history reviewed alongside the institution's own conduct. Both can potentially factor into a claim.
Abuse Justice Center is not a law firm and this is not legal advice. We match survivors and families, free of charge and confidentially, with independent attorneys who evaluate these cases on contingency, meaning there is no fee unless they recover money for you.
If you or someone you love needs to talk to someone immediately, RAINN's free, confidential hotline is available 24/7 at 800-656-4673. A free review can help identify every party, institutional or governmental, that may share responsibility in your situation.
When someone with a supervised criminal history gains access to children, more than one party can potentially be held responsible.
Abuse Justice Center is a lawyer-matching and advocacy service, not a law firm, and nothing here is legal advice. Matching and consultations are free, and network attorneys work on contingency. Need support now? The RAINN hotline is 800-656-4673, 24/7.
In some circumstances, yes. Government immunity has limits, particularly where an agency had specific knowledge of risk and failed to act on it.
No. This is one example. Any case where a government agency, licensing board, or child welfare office missed clear warning signs can potentially raise similar questions.
That is still a valid claim on its own. A government angle is an additional avenue to explore, not a requirement.
Nothing. Case matching is free and confidential, and network attorneys work on contingency, paid only if they recover money for you.