PAWLEYS ISLAND, S.C. — This peaceful coastal community has been swept by a tsunami of outrage after residents learned about allegations that a convicted sex offender was allowed to volunteer at a church that operates a day care center and school.
The growing scandal and resulting criminal investigation led to the arrests of the registered sex offender and three leaders at Pawleys Island Community Church and Pawleys Island Christian Academy. The Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office learned about the allegations in the case on July 12 after a parent found Warren Perry, 70, listed on a sex offender registry. The parent told investigators that Perry was in close proximity to children at the church academy.
At a Monday news conference, Georgetown County Sheriff Carter Weaver announced that investigators had arrested and brought criminal charges against Perry, whom the children called “Mr. Warren,” according to a lawsuit filed against the church and academy. Weaver said former pastor Don Williams and former academy director Jennifer Nicole “Niki” Howard were each charged with obstruction of justice, unlawfully placing a child at risk and criminal conspiracy. Ginny Williams, the pastor’s wife and former guest services director at the church, was charged with criminal conspiracy and obstruction of justice. The pastor, his wife and Howard had resigned from their positions days before their arrests.
Perry was charged with obstruction of justice and criminal conspiracy and is being held without bond.
Weaver said Perry was charged by the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office in August 2020 with two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. In November 2023, Perry was found guilty of one of those counts. He was placed on probation for five years with restrictions on contact with minors.
Details regarding whether Perry was an employee or a volunteer are murky, which is significant because state law requires background checks of anyone employed at a licensed child care facility. Weaver said Perry became “employed” at the Pawleys Island church and academy in a maintenance position shortly after his arrest in 2020. The sheriff described Perry’s role as “what anybody would call employed.”
At the news conference, Weaver displayed two pictures that he said show Perry near children. One of the photos appears to show an adult washing Perry’s feet with children close by.
Other allegations make this story uniquely disturbing: According to a lawsuit, the church academy advertised an auction in which children who won would get to spend a day with one of two maintenance workers, including Perry. Seriously? A day with a sex offender? No wonder parents are on the warpath.
Four lawsuits, including a $25 million class-action complaint, have been filed against the church and its leaders.
At a community meeting Williams hosted at his church on July 15, the pastor insisted that Perry was never supposed to be alone with children and was closely supervised. Members of the packed audience responded that the pastor should be in jail, among other withering suggestions.
Williams’s feeble attempt to quell his congregation’s anger was almost comical as he read stiffly from a prepared statement while the crowd roared its disapproval. Their protests were so deafening that you could barely hear the words, but Williams kept reading, as though talking to himself, until the last page. Williams explained that only a core group knew about Perry’s background — staff, church leaders and he and his wife. When he talked about the decision not to share “sensitive information” about Perry with teachers and parents, the sanctuary erupted in fury.
I guess it’s up to parents to demand proof that all employees and volunteers had clean slates. To find out that a sex offender had access to children for so long was breathtaking and heartbreaking for parents. Williams tried to make the case that, as Christians, his flock should be willing to forgive Perry for his transgressions. This didn’t go over well.
Forgiveness is a lovely concept and fundamental to the Christian faith. I, too, believe in turning the other cheek most of the time, but some cases tax one’s principles more than others. I draw the line at children. The sexual predation of children is especially unforgivable given the disparity between a child’s innocence and the predator’s power. Children trust and look to adults to protect them. The shattering of that trust through sexual exploitation imposes lifelong consequences that warrant a strong sentence.
I like to think of forgiveness and justice as cellmates. Those who would knowingly and intentionally harm a child are best forgiven behind bars.
The post The day a congregation turned on the pastor of a South Carolina church appeared first on Washington Post.
