|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
by WILL FOLKS
***
Last spring, The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier reported that the arrest of former South Carolina congressional candidate Catherine Templeton’s son “almost didn’t happen.”
Turns out, it probably shouldn’t have.
Sources close to the Mount Pleasant Police Department (MPPD) have confirmed the agency is investigating allegations against 42-year-old April Monroe – the Lowcountry woman allegedly responsible for having Templeton’s son, Hampton Templeton, arrested just before the first congressional primary last year.
According to a voluminous report prepared by former S.C. attorney general Charlie Condon – and provided to MPPD investigators – Monroe should face felony charges for obstruction of justice and filing a false police report.
“Monroe falsely reported, mislead, and misinformed MPPD about the injuries to her son while knowingly withholding medical records from MPPD about which she was fully aware and that were within her control at all times relevant to this matter,” Condon’s report noted. “April Monroe’s false report to MPPD caused a felony charge against Mr. Templeton.”
***
According to the report (.pdf), Hampton Templeton was falsely accused by Monroe of causing great bodily harm – including seizures – to her son, Dallas Monroe. Condon’s report cited police video of Monroe, sworn law-enforcement testimony, MPPD incident reports, 911 calls, emails, text messages and medical records alleging Monroe repeatedly lied to police about the younger Templeton.
“(April) Monroe knowingly reported objectively false information to MPPD over many months and on numerous occasions directly resulting in the felony charge (against Templeton),” the report noted.
MPPD originally closed the underlying assault case involving Hampton Templeton, concluding that Monroe’s son was the “primary aggressor” at a high school party involving multiple witnesses and individuals. MPPD found no probable cause to arrest anyone else, including Templeton.
Two months later, however – after Templeton announced her run for Congress – the document claimed Monroe approached a new MPPD detective and allegedly lied to him on more than a dozen occasions about injuries to her son that medical records indicate did not exist. Condon’s report suggest Monroe also withheld medical evidence that could have exonerated Templeton.
Monroe has been involved in several lawsuits and is currently suing someone completely unrelated to this matter in civil court for assault and brain injuries due to a different fight with her son. Dallas Monroe also posted on social media in the aftermath of the incident involving Templeton that his last fight netted him $120,000. When asked in another social media exchange why his mother pressed charges against the younger Templeton, Dallas Monroe responded, “cause we can,” followed by a laughing emoji.
***
RELATED | 111 DAYS LATER
***
At the preliminary hearing, the investigating officer testified that he relied solely on April Monroe’s representations when he charged Hampton Templeton with a felony. As a result, the presiding judge dismissed the felony against Templeton.
Templeton’s arrest was exacerbated by the fact that his mother was in the middle of a national political campaign and her opponent allegedly attempted to leverage the arrest to hurt Templeton with voters.
“I would never have run for office if I had recognized the danger to my kids from politics,” Catherine Templeton said in a statement provided to FITSNews. “We don’t even know this woman. Our justice system is charged with calling balls and strikes and the facts here are pretty stark.”
Informed of the MPDD investigation into her alleged conduct, Monroe did not immediately respond to FITSNews. In the event she does provide a response, count on us to update our audience accordingly.
***
THE REPORT…
(Provided)
***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
***
WANNA SOUND OFF?
Got something you’d like to say in response to one of our articles? Or an issue you’d like to address proactively? We have an open microphone policy! Submit your letter to the editor (or guest column) via email HERE. Got a tip for a story? CLICK HERE. Got a technical question or a glitch to report? CLICK HERE.
3 comments
You should start eating a ton of crow. How many articles did you publish in which you referenced about this arrest? My recollection is that you went on and on about it. I hope you have apologized in writing to Templeton and her son.
Complaining about not taking responsibility for the reporting at the bottom of the article taking responsibility for the reporting?
This piece is embarrassing for an independent news outlet that alleges to value real journalism. All that happened here is that Charlie Condon (who is now just a private attorney representing Hampton Templeton) wrote a letter to Mount Pleasant Police advocating that Dallas Monroe’s mother be charged for providing allegedly false information to police. It’s not a “report by the former SC AG” as if it is quasi-official in nature – it’s a letter written by an attorney hired to represent the interests of his client. And it’s four pages with basic citation to the incident record and medical records – it isn’t “voluminous”. The timeline is muddy and the piece makes no independent effort to parse out the reality – it just presents this four-page letter as true. Will shouldn’t be so selective about when he plays the independent journalist role.