Days after the first lawsuit against a coastal South Carolina church and its K-5 academy became public, a second family has filed its own complaint, this one alleging leaders ignored a report about the same man back in 2022. Here is what changed and what it means if your family was connected to this school.
Reviewed by Abuse Justice Center · Updated 2026-10-28
Two independently filed lawsuits and three separately charged former leaders reflect how quickly one institution's case can widen once families start comparing notes.
The first lawsuit against a South Carolina church and its K-5 Christian academy described a registered sex offender working as a campus custodian for years, including after his conviction. A second, separate lawsuit filed within about a week of the first adds a detail that had not previously been reported: a family says they raised a specific concern with school leadership in 2022, and that leadership dismissed it instead of looking into it or contacting authorities.
That kind of allegation matters legally because it moves the case from a story about one bad hire to a story about a missed chance to stop ongoing harm. If leadership had information in 2022 and did nothing, families whose children were affected after that point may have a stronger basis to argue the institution's own choices, not just the offender's, contributed to what happened.
At a recent South Carolina court hearing, the registered sex offender at the center of both lawsuits was denied bond and remains in custody. Three former leaders connected to the church and academy, including a former pastor, a former administrator, and a former academy director, have all been charged separately and were granted bond.
A criminal case moving forward does not resolve a family's civil claim, and a civil claim does not depend on how the criminal case turns out. The two tracks run separately, which is why families connected to this school do not need to wait for a criminal verdict before having their own situation reviewed.
When one family comes forward publicly against a school or church, it is common for other families connected to the same institution to recognize their own experience in the coverage and come forward too, sometimes months or years apart. Attorneys handling these cases regularly see the number of plaintiffs connected to a single institution grow well beyond the first filing.
That pattern is part of why a free case review does not require matching a news story detail for detail. What matters is whether your child, or you as a child, had contact with the same institution during a period when a known risk was allegedly not addressed.
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No. Many survivors and families never made a formal report at the time, for all kinds of understandable reasons, and that does not by itself prevent a claim from being evaluated.
That depends on the details of your situation and is something an attorney can walk you through directly. Ask any attorney how they charge before you agree; some work on contingency, paid only if the case recovers money.
You do not need to know who the specific person was or whether leadership knew anything in advance. An evaluation looks at your family's own experience and connection to the school.
No. Case evaluations are free and confidential, and attorneys handling these claims typically work on contingency, meaning no fee unless they recover money for you.