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by DYLAN NOLAN
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Travis Reed Gaye, 27, of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina was charged in 2023 with seven felony counts related to the sexual exploitation of a minor. He ultimately pled guilty to a single count of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor in November 2025 on the day prosecutors at the office of S.C. attorney general Alan Wilson were scheduled to begin trying the case.
Gaye was sentenced to ten (10) years in prison, but saw that sentence suspended to five (5) years of probation conditioned on him complying with his probation agreement.
Just thirty-six (36) days after he entered into his plea, Gaye was accused of violating that agreement.
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In an arrest warrant (.pdf) prepared by S.C. Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services (SCDPPPS) agent Chaz Faranqui, Gaye stands accused of having violated probation requirements mandating he not consume alcohol – or possess sexually explicit material.
According to the attached affidavit, during a December 2025 visit to Gaye’s residence a PPP agent noticed “an open container of alcohol on the night stand in his bedroom.”
The agent – without making mention of the container he was visually observing next to Gaye’s bed – asked Gaye if he had been consuming alcohol.
Gaye allegedly denied drinking – only for the agent to point out the can and note the presence of “more open containers… on the floor in between his bed and behind his night stand.”
South Carolina’s standard sex offender conditions explicitly forbid the consumption of alcohol.
More disturbing than beer cans, though, the arrest warrant alleged Gaye broke another condition of his probation prohibiting the possession, use or purchase of sexually explicit material.
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While Gaye allegedly denied the presence of any inappropriate material on his phone when questioned by the agent, a subsequent search of the device revealed his use of a dating app to exchange sexually explicit material.
The “agent found sexually explicit material on (the) Bumble dating app,” the warrant stated, adding Gaye “also sent a image that shows sexually explicit urges.” A search of the device also revealed Gaye having recently installed Reddit, Snapchat and Instagram on the device.
This is directly violative of Gaye’s probation, which demands defendants agree not to “purchase, possess, or use any sexually stimulating or sexually explicit material or device.”
Parole officials also alleged Gaye was searching for sex chat websites on Google just days after entering his guilty plea.
Reed Gaye was arrested again pursuant to his multiple parole violations, but was immediately released on bond – a fact that has engendered deep concern in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood where he resides.
The state’s sex offender registry – maintained by the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) – currently lists Gaye’s residence at 312 Royall Avenue in Mount Pleasant, directly across the street from James B. Edwards Park where children routinely play and participate in tennis lessons.
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Nearly 500 individuals have signed onto a petition created after Gaye was granted bond protesting the state’s handling of the case.
The petition plainly lays out the facts of the case:
“In November 2025, Travis Reed Gaye pleaded guilty to a child sex crime involving the exploitation of an infant. As part of his plea deal, he agreed to strict probation conditions, including a ban on possessing sexually explicit material,” it stated.
“The agreement was clear,” it added. “If he violated probation, he would serve 10 years in prison.”
Yet “just weeks later … he possessed sexually explicit material across multiple apps and lied to officers about it,” and “instead of being sent to prison as promised, Gaye was released the same day on bond.”
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In addition to laying out the disturbing fact pattern associated with Gaye’s case, the petition also highlighted the troubling message its ongoing mishandling sends to the public – and to sexual predators.
“It tells us that even when the justice system sets clear consequences for child exploitation, those consequences are not enforced,”
What the petition’s signatories didn’t know at the time the document was authored, is that SCDPPPS would not argue for Gaye to have his probation revoked – instead merely suggesting he should be subjected to more intense monitoring.
At a hearing this Monday (February 23, 2025) before S.C. circuit court judge David S. Graham, Gaye was represented by former S.C. attorney general Charlie Condon.
Condon cited polygraph examinations as he argued to the court that his client is “not a pedophile.”
Reporter Emily Johnson of WCSC TV-5 (CBS – Charleston) also quoted Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) sex offender treatment program director Bill Burke denying Gaye is a pedophile.
“I’m concerned about his drinking, but he’s not a high-risk individual to the community,” Dr. Burke said, adding his assessment of Gaye was shared by other professionals in his department.
“That’s not just my opinion, that’s the opinion of other four doctors at MUSC,” Burke said.
FITSNews attempted to reach MUSC with inquiries regarding this assessment, but the hospital system declined comment.
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“I want to assure everyone that I am not dangerous: never will be, never have been,” Gaye said during the hearing. “I am going to do everything I can to continue my probation.”
At the conclusion of the hearing, Graham found Gaye had willfully violated his probation and took the matter under advisement – with the intent of issuing an order by the end of the week.
A Mount Pleasant parent granted anonymity to speak freely expressed their belief that the state has thus far failed to protect their neighborhood – and their children.
“Given all the public concern expressed we thought that the probation office and the attorney general’s office would take this a bit more seriously and act to protect the community,” the parent told FITSNews. “In our view, they fell short of their duty.”
SCDPPPS has yes to respond to FITSNews‘ inquiry as to why it didn’t ask Graham to incarcerate Gaye pursuant to the plea agreement he entered.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
(Via: Travis Bell)
Dylan Nolan is the director of special projects at FITSNews. He graduated from the Darla Moore school of business in 2021 with an accounting degree. Got a tip or story idea for Dylan? Email him here. You can also engage him socially @DNolan2000.
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6 comments
I mean, SC voted for this in 2016, 2020, and 2024.
Good job, AG Wilson. Many thanks for being a smuck
Charlie Condone? Pfft!
SCDPPPS? Always been a snafu.
Many thanks to Mr. Nolan for having the courage to speak out. In the not so distant past, government and LEOs would show up in your face and threatened to silence you. Atty Condon was part ot it when he was SCAG. Polygraphs are not trustworthy. Condon knows that.
Another Reason NOT to vote for Wilson for Governor!! Shame on Charlie Condon!!
The S.C. Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services has compiled hundreds of their own dark secrets like the rest of SC’s legal system.
Who would have thought they would try to revoke probation over a simple clearly legal FOIA request to the Dorchester County School board for clearly public records. Who would have thought their legal advice was given by a crooked powerful high-priced lawyer and the attorney for the Probation agency.
The GOP, or Guardians Of Pedophiles, have no interest in putting these folks in jail. Trump has not released the full and unredacted Epstein files as promised, who is HE protecting?
How do these MUSC doctors know that the pedo is not a pedo? After all, as Dylan has it all pegged.
So sick and tired of BS pathological liars like Condon and his cronies. He should be disbarred. Want he did in the Colonial Pipeline case, he screwed that all up when the people of SC were about to get a settlement in the tens of millions of dollars. Chuckie as then AG took the case away from another agency and significantly reduced the settle amount to a shameful number. That infuriated citizens and government employees all over the state!