Pastor and school leader charged after church knowingly employed sex offender; lawsuits filed

Church leaders in South Carolina have resigned and been charged with obstruction of justice after a police investigation found that the church and affiliated school knowingly employed a convicted sex offender who was prohibited from being near children. Lawsuits have also been filed by concerned families.

In a July 17 Facebook post, Georgetown County Sheriff Carter Weaver acknowledged that Pastor Don Williams, his wife Ginny, and Pawleys Island Christian Academy Director Niki Howard have resigned from their positions following the discovery that the church allowed convicted sex offender Warren Perry to volunteer there “despite the fact that a day care and school existed on site.”

“These resignations mean nothing with regard to the ongoing investigation of the church allowing a sex offender to be in close proximity with children at the church school,” Weaver insisted.

Weaver provided additional details about the investigation at a press conference, stating that Perry volunteered as a custodian at Pawleys Island Christian Academy. “A concerned citizen made everyone aware of his activities being around children at Pawleys Island Christian Academy after she viewed Mr. Perry on the sex offender registry,” he said.

While speaking with the Sheriff’s Office on July 12, shortly after the agency first received the tip about Perry, church officials said he volunteered there seven days a week but assured the agency that “the church has taken measures to ensure that he is not allowed around children,” the sheriff said. The Sheriff’s Office later determined that the statement from church leadership “was simply not true.”

Weaver announced criminal charges of obstruction of justice, taking steps to place children at risk, and criminal conspiracy against former Pastor Don Williams and Howard, while noting that Ginny Williams also faces charges of obstruction of justice and criminal conspiracy. The sheriff indicated that Perry had been re-arrested on new charges of obstruction of justice and criminal conspiracy while the other defendants had not yet been taken into custody.

An update posted Monday night by the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office indicated that all four had been arrested. The investigation remains ongoing.

A $25 million class-action lawsuit was filed in state court on behalf of all students who attended Pawleys Island Christian Academy within the past six years. The plaintiffs accuse the school and church officials of failing to properly inform parents that a convicted sex offender was working at the school.

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