by WILL FOLKS
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Four years ago, agents of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) arrested the mayor pro tempore of Pickens, S.C. – Donald Edward McKinney – and charged him with criminal sexual conduct with a minor in the second degree.
McKinney, 75, of Pickens, was a leader in this Upstate city of nearly 3,400 people – located approximately eighteen miles west of Greenville, S.C. in the shadow of Table Rock Mountain.
On or about May 20, 2022, SLED alleged McKinney engaged in “sexual battery by groping and performing oral sex” on a victim who was between the ages of fourteen and sixteen at the time – a violation of S.C. Code of Laws § 16-3-655 (B)(2). Investigators further alleged he did this while “being older and in a familial, custodial, and/or authority position to coerce the victim,” per a probable cause affidavit (.pdf) accompanying a warrant for his arrest.
Subsequent investigation revealed the alleged victim is one of McKinney’s relatives.
Despite the severity of the alleged crime – a felony with a possible prison sentence of up to twenty (20) years – McKinney was granted a $20,000 personal recognizance bond by magistrate judge Michael A. Baker.
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“Personal recognizance” means McKinney did not have to put up any money to secure his release after he was processed on the charge. Several magistrates familiar with similar cases told us McKinney’s bond should have been much higher – assuming it was granted initially at all.
Two months after his arrest, on December 6, 2022, a grand jury in Pickens County formally returned an indictment against McKinney on the felony criminal sexual conduct charge – resulting in his automatic suspension from office that same day (.pdf) by governor Henry McMaster.
For the past four years, McKinney’s case bounced through the Palmetto State’s criminal justice system, but after several delays it was finally scheduled to go to trial this fall – with assistant attorney general Megan Elizabeth Raymer leading the prosecution.
Just days before the scheduled trial date, however, a disposition was entered into the record regarding the charge against McKinney.
That disposition? Nolle prosequi.
For those of you unhip to legal jargon, or, well… Latin, nolle prosequi means “no longer willing to pursue.” It is the designation assigned by solicitors and prosecutors to cases they are no longer going to take to trial.
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In other words, the charge against McKinney was dropped.
To say this decision sent shock waves across the Upstate would be putting it politely. According to our sources, it set off an absolute “detonation” – one which reverberated across multiple judicial circuits.
Most notably, the decision is said to have “enraged” S.C. circuit court judge Rivers Lawton McIntosh – the chief administrative judge for the S.C. tenth judicial circuit, which is presiding over the matter.
“McIntosh is furious,” a source close to the case confirmed to FITSNews.
He’s not the only one, we’re told. Family members of the alleged victim are also reportedly accusing the attorney general’s office of misrepresenting their wishes related to the controversial dismissal – which, if true, could potentially qualify as a violation of the S.C. Victims Bill of Rights.
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According to our sources, there were no materially adverse developments related to the prosecution of McKinney – no wavering witnesses, no compromised evidence and no law enforcement chicanery. In other words, there was no compelling legal reason to drop the charge, we’re told. With McKinney’s term of office having expired, there was also no political pressure to drop the charge against him – nor was there any impending election to consider as it related to the timing of his prosecution.
So… what happened?
FITSNews has received multiple reports regarding the dismissal of the charge against McKinney – and the righteous indignation it appears to have evoked in judge McIntosh. We’ve reached out to the attorney general’s office in the hopes of gaining clarity regarding its decision to dismiss – and look forward to incorporating the office’s responses in subsequent coverage as we dig deeper into the case.
One well-placed source in the top prosecutor’s office assured us there is “a good reason” behind the decision, but declined to elaborate pending a formal response from the agency.
Stay tuned for much more on this case in the coming weeks…
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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.
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1 comment
Ever heard of innocent until and unless proven guilty, FITS?
Ever imagined how easy it is for a teen-ager to lie about her grandfather/grandfather-figure because he scolded her for smoking, did not give a stipend large enough, or she wanted his room all to herself because she did not want to continue sharing a room to herself, or she wanted attention after having attended a class on sex abuse, or ANY number of reasons FROM ACTUAL CASES where a man’s life was ruined until he was found not guilty or the accuser recanted?
Aren’t you, FITS, the one who graced us with a recording of Nancy Mace trying to recruit supposed “victims” of Nancy’s ex fiance when those “victims” had no idea they were in any way molested?
Why is Judge McIntosh “enraged” and “furious”? Does the judge know something the Prosecution does not?
And if the judge did know anything about the case before it entered his court with BOTH sides present, he should have MORE THAN RECUSED HIMSELF. The judge should have “Chinese-walled” himself from EVERY aspect of the case.
What your story reveals is the sad truth of South Carolina judges engaging in gossip and trading on it.
I’ve never been before Judge McIntosh or otherwise met him or read any transcript of his testimony before SC JMSC or of a trial before him; but it is THIS judge, not the prosecutor who exercised her discretion to nol pros a weak or fake case, who should be held to account.
Indeed, a judge given to “rage” and “fury” never has the judicial temperament to begin with and should now do the honorable thing and step down UNLESS your story about his feelings is a total fabrication.
Chief Justice Kittridge should IMMEDIATELY on the Court’s own motion hold a public hearing on whether Judge McIntosh harbored feelings about a case which MIGHT come before him AND published his feelings to court employees.
And YOU, FITS, should be called as a witness without that source-shield nonsense. A court employee who elicits a judge’s feelings about a case in that judge’s court THEN broadcast those feelings to media, is not entitled to any immunity UNLESS that source were blowing the whistle on the judge’s partiality.
And YOU, FITS, have the audacity to pretend to be crusading for a fair trial for Alex Murdaugh! What chance did Donald Edward McKinney have of a fair trial in the court of a judge so partial and prejudiced against the accused?
Shame on you!