Sexual harassment, assault claims cost SC $13M+ over 10 years | Charlotte Observer

The boys who attended The Citadel’s now-defunct summer camp in 2002 said Louis “Skip” ReVille lured them into his room offering pizza and Chinese food.

He then showed them pornographic material, showered and masturbated in front of them.

In 2012, The Citadel graduate, former teacher and coach pleaded guilty to 22 counts of abuse and was sentenced to 50 years in prison. Afterward, the state of South Carolina paid about $2.4 million – including more than $1 million for legal expenses – to settle three molestation claims related to ReVille.

Click to resize

The Citadel case is just one of almost 200 claims of sexual assault, harassment, rape and negligence for whichthe state of South Carolina has paid millions in damages since 2007.

Nationwide, allegations of sexual abuse have been getting more attention since dozens of women came forward two months ago to accuse Hollywood studio executive Harvey Weinstein of harassment and worse.

The allegations then spread into the political world as federal, state and local officials were accused of abuse.

In South Carolina, allegations of sexual misconduct – even failure to report it – have resulted in state payments of more than $13 million over the past 10 years, according to the S.C. Insurance Reserve Fund.

▪  The state has spent about $2 million to settle more than a dozen claims of sexual abuse and assault involving the S.C. Department of Social Services.

▪  Another $7.2 million has been spent to settle more than 70 cases of sexual harassment, assault and negligence involving local governments and schools.

▪  More than $607,000 has been spent to settle about 30 claims of sexual assault and harassment and negligent supervision involving the state’s Departments of Corrections and Juvenile Justice. Much of that cost has been for legal expenses.

‘Stress of a trial can be immense’

For a victim of sexual assault or abuse – especially, for a young victim – it can be hard to bring a case to trial.

“It’s hard for the victim to talk about it,” said personal injury attorney Heather Hite Stone of Abbeville. “Then to ask them to go to trial and be in front of people, that’s another thing.”

In 2013, Stone represented an 11-year-old Abbeville boy who was attacked and sexually assaulted at a home for boys – later shut down – under the watch of the S.C. Department of Social Services.

The claim resulted in a confidential, undisclosed settlement, Stone said.

To pay for settlements, state agencies and local governments turn to the state’s Insurance Reserve Fund.

Social Services relied on that fund for about $711,000 – one of the largest settlements by the agency during the past 10 years – to settle a claim that an unidentified child was assaulted sexually at a home for boys.

It was not known whether that settlement was a result of Stone’s case.

Over the past decade, the state has spent more than $1.5 million to settle about 20 sexual assault and harassment claims against other state agencies.

Those agencies have included the state’s Vocational Rehabilitation, Education, Corrections and Juvenile Justice agencies.

Local governments, colleges rack up costs

The S.C. Insurance Reserve Fund also has paid about $7.2 million to settle claims against local governments and schools.

Cases include a $200,000 payment after a student with Down syndrome was sexually assaulted in Williamsburg County in 2006.

Another claim involved a former Georgetown County Detention Center guard, Belvin Lee Sherrill, who entered a jail cell with three women inside, exposed his genitals and made them perform a sexual act, according to a lawsuit filed in 2011 by two of the three women.

The Insurance Reserve Fund paid $100,000 to one woman and $50,000 to the other. Legal expenses totaled almost another $125,000. Under the same claim, the state paid a third woman $200,000 and spent another nearly $29,000 in legal costs.

The state also has paid about $1 million to settle 15 claims against universities, including two at the University of South Carolina and S.C. State University. Of those claims, the Insurance Reserve Fund reported nearly $640,000 went to settle allegations of sexual harassment.

Spotlight on government

Allegations of sexual misconduct involving federal agencies have continued to multiply since Weinstein’s unmasking.

Thus far this month, three U.S. congressmen have resigned or announced they will quit because of claims of sexual assault and harassment.

U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., retired Wednesday as allegations of sexual harassment against him continued to rise.

U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., said Thursday that he will resign in light of multiple claims of sexual misconduct, and U.S. Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., retired Thursday after disclosing he discussed surrogacy with two female staffers.

This story was originally published December 08, 2017 4:46 PM.