By Philip Phi
Posted Sep 16, 2026 at 5:56 PM
Pawleys Island Community Church has announced the closure of its Pawleys Island Christian Academy following an ongoing investigation and multiple lawsuits involving a registered sex offender who had access to children. The decision, made by the current leadership, was communicated in a statement on the academy’s website on August 10, citing recent events, the investigation, and delays with licensing for the upcoming school year.
The church, a South Carolina Southern Baptist congregation, acknowledged the academy’s 25-year service to the community and expressed regret over the damage caused by recent revelations. “We recognize the information that has come to light over the past few weeks has severed trust and caused tremendous hurt and confusion,” the statement read. “For this, the current leadership of PICC offers our sincerest apologies.”
The closure follows a series of arrests and lawsuits related to Warren Spence Perry, a 70-year-old registered sex offender. Perry, who worked in volunteer, custodial, or maintenance roles at the church and academy, pleaded guilty in 2023 to third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor. He was arrested in July for allegedly violating supervision conditions by entering areas frequented by children and contacting minors.
The Georgetown County sheriff’s office initiated an investigation after a parent complaint in July. It was revealed that Perry had worked at the academy’s school and day care, serving about 300 students, without disclosing this role to his probation agent.
In addition to Perry, former senior pastor Don Williams, his wife Ginny Williams, and former academy director Niki Howard were arrested. All three had resigned from their positions prior to their arrests. Don Williams and Howard face charges of obstruction of justice, criminal conspiracy, and unlawfully placing a child at risk, while Ginny Williams and Perry face charges of obstruction and conspiracy.
A federal class-action lawsuit filed on August 4 names Pawleys Island Community Church, the academy, Perry, the Southern Baptist Convention, and the SBC Executive Committee as defendants. The complaint alleges failures by the church and other entities to protect children, highlighting the need for accountability and justice in such matters, as echoed in Micah 6:8’s call for justice, mercy, and walking humbly with God.
Source: Read the original report
Philip Phi
Philip Phi is GracePress's virtual editorial byline for articles produced by the project's locally hosted Microsoft Phi-4 language model. He does not independently report, interview sources, or witness events. Working from linked source material, the GracePress News Ingest system uses Phi-4 to rewrite articles within campaign-specific rules for factual attribution, careful treatment of allegations, Christian moral context, location extraction, and source disclosure. Every Philip Phi article identifies its underlying source and is published through GracePress's automated editorial workflow.
