S.C. Judge Grants Bond to Marine Charged With 12 Child Sex Crimes

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by ANDY FANCHER

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A South Carolina circuit court judge has granted the release of a U.S. Marine charged with 12 child sex crimes. The ruling followed a previous bond denial ruling in a case filed while the defendant was on probation for a prior child sex offense involving a different child.

Eric Blaine Powers, a Spartanburg County native now living in Anderson County, was charged on November 11, 2025, with eight counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor, two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor and two counts of disseminating obscene material to a minor.

After these charges were filed by deputies with the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO), the case was referred to the office of S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson. It was later transferred to the 13th Circuit Solicitor’s Office — which covers Greenville and Pickens counties — after Wilson cited a “conflict of interest” in prosecuting Powers (.pdf).

FITSNews asked the attorney general’s office to clarify the nature of this conflict. A spokesperson declined to provide details, saying only that the office could not “ethically continue in the prosecution.”

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Now being handled by the 13th Circuit, details underlying Powers’ charges were not made public until January 9, 2026, when he appeared for a second bond hearing in Spartanburg County. During this proceeding, Assistant Solicitor Caroline Kneece alleged that Powers sexually abused his oldest biological daughter between the ages of 4 and 10.

Now 18, the daughter has not had contact with Powers since a separate criminal case involving his stepdaughter in 2017.

“These acts included digital and penile penetration, fellatio and cunnilingus,” Kneece told the court during this hearing. “The victim disclosed her biological father would come in her room at night. He would show her pornographic images and videos and he would ask her to act them out together.”

When Powers appeared for the January 9 hearing, he stood 6-foot-3 in an orange jumpsuit marked “County Jail.” Bearing the effects of roughly 60 days in the Spartanburg County Detention Center, he remained silent throughout the proceeding, speaking only to confer with his attorney, Jennifer Wells of KD Trial Lawyers.

“He is adamant that he did not commit these offenses,” Wells told the court in support of Powers’ release. “We’re not going to try this case today, judge. I just wanted the court to know that… we have some real concerns about how this could even be possible.”

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Presiding over the January 9 hearing was Circuit Court Judge J. Mark Hayes, a licensed attorney first elected to the bench in April 2003.

The bond hearing lasted less than 15 minutes. During that proceeding, the alleged victim’s mother was denied permission to read a roughly 300-word statement opposing bond. Instead, only the first and last portions of the statement were read aloud by Kneece.

Hayes then took the matter under advisement.

Seven days later, he signed an order (.pdf) granting Powers’ release on a single $50,000 surety bond covering all 12 charges. The order imposed several “special conditions,” including home detention with GPS monitoring, while still allowing Powers to return to work as an HVAC installer in Anderson County.

The order also barred Powers from residing with any minors and limits him to supervised contact with minor children.

In practical terms, the ruling allowed Powers to secure his release by posting roughly $5,000 of the total bond amount — despite prior allegations involving a different child.

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PATTERN RECOGNITION…

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When Powers was charged with 12 child sex crimes in November 2025, he was already serving a five-year probation sentence stemming from a prior conviction involving his stepdaughter.

Police records reviewed by FITSNews revealed that case began in 2017, when a 14-year-old girl told SCSO deputies her stepfather had repeatedly assaulted her late at night and during early morning hours over at least a year.

The girl told deputies the encounters included Powers fondling her breasts, adding that when she attempted to “roll away,” he would “grab her” and “try again.”

Even more explicit details – including allegations involving a sex toy and masturbation – were later disclosed during a forensic interview conducted at a child advocacy center, according to a supplemental incident report provided to FITSNews.

Additional SCSO reports indicated the stepdaughter told investigators she came forward out of fear that Powers was abusing his two biological daughters, who were 10 and 5 years old at the time.

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Those same records also referenced allegations that Powers struggled with a pornography addiction. According to another supplementary report, investigators documented claims that searches conducted on his tablet included queries on how to “groom a child.”

It remains unclear whether that tablet was ever seized by investigators.

As the criminal investigation unfolded, social workers with the S.C. Department of Social Services (SCDSS) conducted a parallel inquiry. Records reviewed by FITSNews showed that in January 2018, SCDSS concluded in a determination fact sheet that there was a “substantial risk of sexual abuse” involving all three children in the household.

Within two months of the date shown on the determination fact sheet, Powers was charged by SCSO with third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor.

As in the current case, both the Seventh Circuit Solicitor’s Office (.pdf) and the attorney general’s office cited conflicts of interest in prosecuting Powers, resulting in another transfer to the 13th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.

The charge, however, did not stand.

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As the initial case moved forward, Powers retained criminal defense attorney Stephen Denton of KD Trial Lawyers. Denton previously served more than 13 nonconsecutive years with SCSO before resigning as a captain in 2007 (.pdf).

Within four years of leaving law enforcement to pursue a legal career, Denton joined the Spartanburg-based firm Harrison, White, Smith & Coggins, P.C., a firm Hayes had previously practiced with prior to his election to the circuit court bench in 2003.

Nonetheless…

With Denton representing Powers, the case remained pending for nearly five years before being resolved in January 2023, when he accepted a plea to a lesser misdemeanor assault charge. That disposition did not require him to register as a sex offender. It did, however, result in a permanent restraining order barring contact with his stepdaughter.

Records reviewed by FITSNews show the order remains in effect through Dec. 31, 2099.

By the time of that conviction and restraining order, SCSO had already opened a separate investigation based on allegations from Powers’ oldest daughter. Those allegations would later form the basis of the 12 charges now pending against him.

According to police records provided to FITSNews, the allegations at the center of the current case were reported to SCSO in February 2021, leaving the matter under investigation for nearly five years before charges were filed.

The reason for that delay remains unclear. What is clear, though, is that Powers was not arrested until just a few months after Spartanburg County Sheriff Charles “Chuck” Wright Jr. resigned from office amid an unrelated federal investigation.

That timing is notable given the public-facing relationship between Powers’ family and Wright.

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Multiple Facebook posts obtained by FITSNews showed Powers’ mother describing the now-former sheriff as a “best friend,” while Powers’ stepsister referred to him in her own online postings as “Uncle Chuck.”

Most of those posts have since been deleted.

Wright has since pleaded guilty to three federal charges involving theft of public funds and the unlawful acquisition of prescription painkillers. He was later charged by the S.C. Ethics Commission with 65 ethics violations related to nepotism and misuse of a county-funded credit card.

In the latter matter, Wright is represented by Denton — a former member of Wright’s own command staff and the same attorney who previously represented Powers.

Powers is now represented by another attorney from the same firm.

As previously reported, FITSNews submitted multiple Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests seeking records related to Powers’ case months before his arrest. We have since submitted an additional FOIA request seeking records tied to his most recent incarceration.

With additional hearings now on the docket, it remains unclear whether the prolonged delay behind SCSO’s most recent charges against Powers will factor into the defense strategy, even as further information continues to emerge.

Write to Andrew Fancher at andy@fitsnews.com

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UPDATE |

Eric Blaine Powers was released from custody before 1:00 p.m. EST on Tuesday, January 20, 2026.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…

Andrew Fancher is a Lone Star Emmy award-winning journalist from Dallas, Texas. Cut from a bloodline of outlaws and lawmen alike, he was the first of his family to graduate college which was accomplished with honors. Got a story idea or news tip for Andy? Email him directly and connect with him socially across Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.