POLITICAL STAKES IN CONTROVERSIAL CHILD MOLESTATION CASE KEEP RISING
|| By FITSNEWS || Supporters of Upstate, S.C. radio host and social conservative activist Joshua “Josh” Kimbrell are ratcheting up the pressure on local solicitor Walt Wilkins in an effort to get him to drop child molestation charges against Kimbrell.
And the political stakes in this ongoing legal drama keep getting higher …
The charges – which were recently deemed unfounded by investigators with the S.C. Department of Social Services (SCDSS) – were made by Kimbrell’s ex-wife Kacy Lyons Hatmaker and involved the couple’s three-year-old son, Tristan Kimbrell.
Obviously that’s seismic …
“If Kimbrell is innocent, then his accuser is guilty of the most insidious character assassination we’ve ever seen,” we wrote early on in the case. “If he’s guilty, though, there is literally no punishment we view as too severe.”
S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley – who named Kimbrell to her 2014 “Faith and Family Coalition” – wasted little time in forming her opinion on the case. Quietly (and quickly) she scrubbed his name from her campaign website the day the story broke– eager to avoid a scandal less than three weeks away from the November 4 elections.
Other social conservatives stood by Kimbrell, though … and are still standing by him today.
Standing with Hatmaker? Upstate detective Brittany Valdario.
According to Kimbrell allies Valdario has lost her objectivity in the case – and in addition to helping keep the criminal charges against Kimbrell alive, is also assisting his ex-wife in the couple’s ongoing family court case.
“The detective is so emotionally invested in the mother that she’s helping her in the custody battle, which is outside the lines of police responsibility,” one Kimbrell ally told FITS.
FITS has obtained an affidavit from the family court case in which Valdario offers testimony on Hatmaker’s behalf – although sources close to the S.C. thirteenth judicial circuit tell us there is “nothing unusual about detectives providing sworn testimony” in such cases.
Officers, detectives and other law enforcement personnel “always act out of an abundance of caution in the best interests of the minor child,” the source told FITS.
We wrote on the attention this case was receiving two weeks ago … but since then the political stakes have escalated.
According to our sources, both Kimbrell (the accused) and Wilkins (the prosecutor) have aspirations for the same U.S. congressional office – the fourth district seat currently occupied by former solicitor Trey Gowdy. In fact Wilkins – nephew of former U.S. Ambassador and S.C. Speaker David Wilkins – is said to view the seat as a stepping stone to the South Carolina governor’s office.
It is against this highly charged political backdrop that the facts of the case are being weighed …
Last month, SCDSS “unfounded” the sexual abuse claim against Kimbrell – determining that incriminating statements made by the evangelical leader’s three-year-old son had been “coerced.” Weeks later, though, Wilkins has yet to drop the charges.
Does he have additional evidence? Or is he just performing his due diligence on the case?
That remains to be seen … but the longer Wilkins waits, the more aggressively Kimbrell’s social conservative allies are going to push him.
Which only adds explosive power to an increasingly combustible situation …
116 comments
I marvel that FITS will DEMAND due process for Terrorists caught on tape Bombing and killing American children in the name of Islamic Jihad…
But FITS convicts and condemns a man being accused by a bitter and estranged wife, because the accused is a Conservative…
People…that’s where YOUR Obama-led Democrat Party is today…are you proud of what, and who, you are…????
Did you even bother to READ the article, dumbass?
When this came out, FITS convicted this man, but argued in favor of the Boston Marathon Jihad Bomb Murderers…
The accused is a Conservative…and supported Haley…so FITS condemned him as GUILTY… STFU, and go educate yourself…Idiot…
Quick, Haley just took a dump! Your tongue is needed in the Governor’s Mansion bathroom or else she’ll have to use toilet paper.
Please cite page and line where FITS did this. I’m not arguing (you may be right), just asking for a simple citation where he specifically and without warranted convicted Kimbrell.
I don’t have the F*#king time – or the inclination -to do YOUR homework Dumb@$$…
I didn’t ask you to do my homework, I asked you to back up your statement. Or you can just avoid the issue, continue name-calling, and continue to act like a liberal plant masquerading as conservative would. I will continue to kick your ass in debate so long as you avoid the issue.
STFU, you ignorant B@$*@*d ….this site is a bastion for you liberal liars, low-brow A-holes and rumor-mongers…
When someone presents well-known facts that Dumb F*#ks like you dislike…you all of the sudden demand some sort of standard for veracity…
If you’re too stupid to know who, and what, you are…I’m not going to spend my time educating your Stupid @$$…
You’ve got the lying, low-brow A-Hole segment all shored up, BigT. Glad you like hanging with liberals all day. Me are a fun bunch!
So, I see you decided on the name-calling route. I wish I could say I was surprised. I guess I win.
BTW, I don’t dislike facts. I dislike imbeciles making assertions with inflammatory remarks without showing at least a little concern for objectivity. I’ve already stated I agree with FITS using the original story as a backhanded slap at Haley. You should have stated that as your “FACT”, not the conviction part.
“BTW, I don’t dislike facts. I dislike imbeciles making assertions with
inflammatory remarks without showing at least a little concern for
objectivity.”
Boy did you come to the wrong place!
Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m really just trying to see how long I can get GT going with his predictable and pathetic shtick he always brings. Typical undercover liberal troll.
Yeah…you win…just like you do under all the other pseudonyms you use to try to prove you’re not a Dumb@$$ when tangling /w me… LMAO…
Oh look! Another unsubstantiated assertion. I can’t believe it. Yeah, “all the other pseudonyms”, as in all one of them. LMAO!! Look, GT, I’ve already outed you as a liberal plant. We all know it’s liberals who use the ad hominem and inflammatory card. You aren’t fooling anybody trying to make conservatives sound that way. It’s a nice try and it has been tried many times and places before, like at a tea party rallies. But you have to at least try to act like a real and rational human being before anybody is gonna buy your conservative act.
At least these days GT uses the same screen name. GT, tell your buddy Flip he can keep the same screen name. He’s just wasting his time constantly creating new profiles and saying the exact same shit, over and over…
Do you not have time because you are working on he re-design of SCPSD? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
“Kimbrell’s failure to make bond is obviously not an encouraging first sign. ”
you were correct…I formed an opinion of guilt when I read this on fits…I have since changed my mind after reading other ‘sources’…
in fairness I recall fits used this story as a failed, october “surprise”,last ditch effort to smear haley by trying to attach her to an alleged child molester…after the initial report fits has been fair and balanced in my opinion although why haley’s name is STILL in the story tell you all you need to know about fits intent and interest…haley…haley…haley…nikki…nikki…nikki…
I agree that this part is fair. That’s not “convicting” anybody, though. Also, following up on the story makes it pretty clear that FITS is remaining fair regarding the allegations.
Lay off the booze, dude. Where’s your boyfriend Flip/Pogo/Sandi/Farley? Maybe they can help.
Here is the original FITS article: https://www.fitsnews.com/2014/10/16/upstate-sc-child-sex-scandal-set-explode/
Please quote which line you say “condemned him as GUILTY?”
Drunken dumbass is more to the point.
Alcohol kills brain cells.
You leave my boy alone! He might struggle with literacy but he’s still my boy!
That’s not really how it works. But have fun “Social Conservatives.”
It’s real easy for someone to say they are quoting what DSS has allegedly found in their investigation when DSS cannot divulge confidential information.
But, if the father received a SCDSS Case Determination Fact Sheet from DSS and he should have, he is free to take it to the media for publication.
Has he done so?
It’s not being said, it is fact that DSS has unfounded the case. Fits or Fox News did a report with a direct quote from Kimbrell’s lawyer.
All from Kimbrell’s lawyer. That’s his job, to help mold the public’s perception. Anything official they can show the public?
If an attorney gets caught in a outright lie, that’s grounds for disbarment.
I doubt any attorney would take that risk publicly.
You don’t know any lawyers, do you? ;-)
Its on record, a female Berkeley County Public defender had been repeatedly caught bold faced lying to judges in the 9th Circuit. Nothing was ever done to her. And her lies were pretty serious – grounds for disbarment. One just actually looked down his nose at her and said, “I though you told me ( the opposite of what was stated in court). I cleared it up for the judge and set the record strait. The female lawyer is pretty twisted and fucked up in the head. There are dozens of incidents involving her. She couldn’t make it in private practice because of her bizarre conduct. Many lawyers figured her out, of course, and she was shunned – deemed “untrustworthy.” Actually, she is a man hater.
*Collapses to floor, laughing hysterically*
Wanna bet on that risk?
Then, why doesn’t the lawyer release a copy of the SCDSS Case Determination Fact Sheet and prove it?
That I don’t know…. maybe because there is still an ongoing case in DSS court. But I can testify to the fact that the charges have been investigated, both parties have gone through extensive investigations and nothing has come up against Kimbrell.
You’ve seen this report with your own eyes or a lawyer just told you?
Seems like Kimbrell’s support here is drying up. If these where truly made up accusations then the charges would have been dropped ASAP. Not the case here…there appears to be substance to these allegations. So called religious leaders are responsible for the majority of child molestation cases in the country. Google “priest, pastor, Sunday school, rabbi, church + sexual + abuse” and see how many results come back…
Only 8% of all cases are ever dropped. Wilkins doesn’t have to do anything. There is no requirement to move forward with the case or dismiss it.
Only 8%? You better do some research on that, chump. There are some real dumbasses posting here. And you are one of them.
Look at the fifth paragraph.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/nov/20/why-innocent-people-plead-guilty/
You are full of shit and always have been full of shit, chump.
Yes, but he called me a dumbass. That I’m not.
That’s the thing–there is no substance to the accusations! The Solicitor’s office is dragging their feet. They were invited to depositions that were done and declined the invitation. For the record–all the depositions from key players in this case were in favor of Josh.
Charges would have been dropped asap? You are oblivious as to the mechanics of how the Court of General Sessions and State Prosecutors function.
“You are oblivious as to the mechanics of how the Court of General Sessions and State Prosecutors function.”
Please enlightened us. Include citations.
There is no ‘DSS court’.
Some DSS cases, including those where children are in foster care, are handled in the Family Court.
You want to believe what you want to believe. I don’t believe a thing without evidence.
On the question of whether DSS has unfounded a case, the ONLY evidence of the case determination is the SCDSS Case Determination Fact Sheet.
In a case like this, the father and mother would have received copies and are both free to show them to anyone in the media, not just talk about them or have their lawyers do so.
MadSec, has gone quiet. Maybe it’s Kimbrell’s screen name?
Nope not Kimbrell’s screen name! I just work for a living so I can’t be online every second. I misspoke–I know that there isn’t a DSS court–It’s family court. Either-way, not sure why fact sheet hasn’t been released but rest assured that all those that need to be privy to such findings have seen it.
fool…why would either party be advised to show ‘copies’ of anything to the media with charges still pending and civil litigation almost certain?
Free to show? Cite your SC regulations, statutes, and case law.
Let Wilkin’s run for the Congressional seat–he will never get it! Kimbrell is much more a man that Wilkin’s will ever be. All Wilkin’s knows how to do is drag is sorry ass feet, give canned responses and jerk off instead of doing his job!
Someone sounds desparate.
I wonder if being accused of molesting your own child would be too much to overcome with values voters?
The accusations are false and once this is over the public will know the truth–it is all fabrications of the ex-wife. She’s truly unstable and should not be allowed to have any parental rights.
I can tell you their are some very important people that are backing Josh in this whole process because they know exactly what kind of man he is. So, not it will not be too much to overcome.
That’s what I thought. Birds of a feather….
Kimbrell also reportedly had designs on holding political office himself – and is connected to the social conservatives who recently took over the Greenville (S.C.) Republican Party from a group of limited government fiscal conservatives.
Read more at https://www.fitsnews.com/2014/10/15/upstate-social-conservative-leader-arrested/#c7V4AX2gY6fc5Ppx.99
this and fits obsession with haley was ALL this was about in my opinion…add a little help from law enforcement and and the liberal courts and you the have the recipe for destroying a christian conservative with a bright future…they have already destroyed this man…charges will eventually be dropped however he is finished as a public servant and/or politician…mission accomplished by msm and other media outlets for democrat party and SC gop rino’s…
HELL, NO!
Hopefully, for thinking people, that would depend on whether the allegations are true or not.
Yes! We are very desperate to get a child back with his father and family that love him and the Solicitor’s office is not doing a damn thing about it.
josh has two problems…being a christian that practices his faith in the public arena of politics and he is white…if he was a al sharpton community organizer kind of christian democrat politician with a bright political future and black these charges would have been dropped long ago…in my opinion
Geez, Flip. Its a lot easier to comment under one screen name. Why constantly creating new Disqus profiles?
who?
Oh….OK. I’ll play along…..He’s this weird closeted homosexual, conservative troll who frequents this site, constantly changing screen name for some strange reason. Probably because he’s not very bright and is constantly made to look like a complete ignorant fool. Especially when he tries a new profile on my platform. My bad, Fli…I mean whatever your new profile name is.
Kinda feel like Nostradamus is posting on this site today…weird..
Playing stupid? Yes, yes… That’s a classic troll trick, but what you’re missing is that you are already making it plain-as-day obvious who you are with your other comments. You’re trying to cover up your tracks well after the hounds caught up with you.
Sorry, I’m going to have to hand you a D+ this time. Make sure and study the other trolling techniques and work on your implementation. You don’t have a lot of time left this semester, so best step it up.
He’s already dropped this one. This squirrelly troll is wearing me out..
You know, I am very close to Josh and very liberal and I can tell you that neither of those is a problem. He does have a VERY bright political career ahead….
So, you’ve seen these DSS reports then? Not just third party talk about what a lawyer supposedly saw?
Everyone that needs to see the reports has seen them.
Including you?
I don’t think the odds of a political talk show host getting elected to Congress are very good. There have got to be days of recordings of him saying stuff that could be thrown back in his face by his opponents.
Good point “guest”; being white is such a burden in this country, how did he ever overcome it in the first place..
“..According to our sources, both Kimbrell (the accused) and Wilkins (the prosecutor) have aspirations for the same U.S. congressional office – the fourth district seat currently occupied by former solicitor Trey Gowdy….”
Gowdy’s not going anywhere and there is no way either of these upstate publicity hounds (Wilkins is actually more of a publicity whore) is going to beat him. Wilkins is probably going to do himself irreparable harm with this case as he has made “Sex Crime Prosecution … particularly those against children.” one of his key initiatives.
I read somewhere that there is a growing belief that many want Gowdy to take on ole’ Lindsay
If Lindsey is dumb enough to actually run for President, Gowdy might be a viable candidate for his seat. I’d vote for him over Ms. Lindsey.
Lindsay does not have to resign to run for President, and he won’t. He is merely running interference for the GOP establishment.
If Gowdy wanted to run for Senate, he should have done so last year. He would have had an excellent shot. Lindsay is in for 6 more years, so Trey ain’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Agree – I think Graham damages his brand by even contemplating a presidential run.
“his brand ”
lol…and what brand is that? Sexually ambiguous warmonger brand?
Possibility: Graham gets nominated as VP, Governor appoints his replacement, these two guys want it.
Graham is probably going to run, but not really, he is really shooting for a VP nod.
Graham can run all he wants. He doesn’t stand a chance in hell at winning. He’s about as delusional and psychotic as Joe Biden.
I just read at NYT, Gowdy is already showing his ass on his Benghazi ‘hearing’.
What is this, like the 5th or 6th GOP Congressional Benghazi “investigation?”
Same hearing he’s been on all along. Two or three committees had or are having hearings. The first (the “waht diference does it make” hearing) was a total whitewash.
Gowdy (a former prosecutor from the Greenville area) is just a bunch of hot hair and tough talk. His bark is loud. But his bite is of that of a person without teeth. He is a very weak show boy. He condones amnesty for millions of illegal aliens, and he is an Obama/Boehner operative. I don’t expect him to win another term. And I don’t give a rats ass what anyone says to the contrary, however, many in South Carolina are turning against him. Just look at the post on his Fakebook page.
BYCSI: Gowdy’s from Spartanburg, not Greenville. If you can’t get even THAT right, the rest of your post is equally stupid.
Greenville area …. hahahahaahahahaaa. Greenville is a stones throw from Spat-tin-berg.
I’ve listened to that radio station a few times. They yell over callers and everything said is condescending.
It’s takes a lot of patience to listen to it. I could only do it at 10 minute intervals.
Meanwhile, the child is still sitting in foster care. It is rather curious that this case has lingered when there could not possibly be any additional investigation going on.
If the child is in foster care and the case has been unfounded…someone is not telling the truth about something.
It’s not about someone not telling the truth-it’s about the Solicitor’s office not dropping the charges so that the bond can be lifted and Josh could have custody of his child!
I suspect DSS is waiting for the criminal charges to be dismissed. Nothing like giving custody to a guy who can still become a convicted felon to make you look like you’re doing a good job. I think the mom is out of state as well so there may be some issue that if they gave her custody, then there’d be almost no way to get Josh custody back. I have no experience with this type of law so I’m really just spitballing here.
That is odd. Why has the child not been returned to either parent?
The reason the child has not been returned to either parent is because the crazy mama if you can call her that refuses to let the child be with any one …not even her own parents. She gave up seeing him at Christmas just because she didn’t want josh to see him. I’m a mother of 3 children there’s no way I would not want to see my baby. This women is evil and has set out to destroy josh. Sometime the women is not right, and there’s dads all over the state that are not guilty and without this kids because iPod an evil ex.
Parental Alienation Syndrome …. that’s what his ex wife has engaged within. She uses their son as a weapon against the father. Seen many women in family court cases do this. For the most part, the lot of them get off with a slight slap to the back of the hand. But if a man were to do it, they go to jail.
BTW fits, nice use of a really old picture. I haven’t seen a Wachovia sign in like 7 years.
I’m curious to know what kind of crush Det. Valderio has on the ex wife? Sounds like there’s more to her obsession than “doing her job”….. Not trying to sound as crazy as the other commenters, just askin’?
That’s what we are wondering! LOL I think she saw an opportunity to make a name for herself with this case because of the lies that the ex-wife fed her and she fell for it–hook, line and sinker! But she’s totally delusional if she thinks that the accusations are true–THEY ARE SO FAR FROM THE TRUTH! I almost pity Det. Valderio–getting caught in the ex’s web of lies.
‘Not trying to sound as crazy as the other commenters”
Still succeeding though.
Now it’s a conspiracy of women? You are helping you’re buddy using the same tactics other molesters use.
Walt Wilkins can do anything he pleases or nothing at all. There is nothing Kimbrell can do about it.
“A pending felony charge. like from an open police investigation, usually can be held over your head without filing court charges until the statute of limitations runs, and that can be years.”
http://criminal-law.freeadvice.com/criminal-law/drug_crimes/felony_drug.htm
The Palmetto State, however, has no statute of limitations for any criminal prosecution, meaning prosecutors can bring charges whenever they can. – See more at: http://statelaws.findlaw.com/south-carolina-law/south-carolina-criminal-statute-of-limitations-laws.html#sthash.xQdK0kUp.dpuf
Walt Wilkins, Solicitor Circuit 13 – Term expires 2019.
Wilkins is holding the threat of child sexual assault charges and the sex offender registry over Joshua’s head in order to pressure him to plea to a lesser charge. It may even be a very minor charge to save Joshua huge legal costs of going to court. It will be difficult for him to turn down such an offer. I wonder how many people actually plea guilty or are tried for the original charges. I bet it is very few. Harrell and Metts come to mind.
Wilkins is in a politically bad spot if he doesn’t get a guilty plea or verdict. He will drag it out as long as possible regardless of the harm to the child. He can load up the charges and their severity in an extortion threat against defendants to force them to accept a plea.
I’m no law expert, but I imagine it would look bad for Wilkins if and when SC Family Court gives the father the custody of his child, but the solicitor is still standing around doing nothing with these charges against said father.
It would look bad after all this pain and separation, to just dismiss the charges. I don’t know if the child can be returned to Josh while the solicitors investigation is pending.
If DSS can ‘drop the charges’, as they apparently did, why can’t the solicitor?
Because he would look like a fool with the public and among his peers. DSS is not an elected position.
Ahh, I see.
So what does Valdario’s affidavit say?
Seriously, you should not publish the name of the child. No one needs to know that and the child deserves any privacy he can get.
Maybe even edit it out of the story!
Are you for real? You can go to any public records search website, utilize their services, and get the names of aunts and uncles associated with ANYONE in addition to their OWN CHILDREN.
Could you please give me an example of such a website?
Google it.
Check out the background of the accuser. Is this the first time she’s claimed abuse? Is this the first time she has accused the abuse of a child? If not, how did the other casses turn out?
Abuse is her “go to” response when she doesn’t get her way….temper tantrum on steroids! Look way back in her past and you will understand.
This whole mess is bigger than any of us can imagine !!! Someone said that Josh’s supporter’s are backing off…HOGWASH !!!..If Walt knew some of the heavyweights that were supporting Josh, he would back off !!!..When the truth finally shines thru on all this, it’s going to shock people that such injustice can take place…whether this is political or spiritual or whatever else, a daddy and his family have been robbed of precious time with their precious three year old…for those of you judging Josh, just remember, someone may falsely accuse you one day and rock your whole world…your finances, your friends, your family, and even your faith will be put to a severe test…even when you’re proven innocent (DSS has concluded that every accusation was coerced )…there will be people that will look at you as guilty… and To the person that said most sexual crimes were done by religious people…HOGWASH again !!! The media just loves to report those because it helps hide their hypocricy and makes all Christians and conservatives look bad…I believe that someone is trying to silence Josh, whether it be his advesaries or the chief adversary, Satan …Josh will not be silenced !!! He will rise above this and be stronger and a more powerful voice than ever !!
How could a mother turn her child over to DSS and not see him for months over the same lie she has told over and over so she can move to Texas with her new husband? Why because she thought she could use these allocations (as she has before) hoping Josh would give up on his son. Did he ? No. He loves his son. He also loved his ex wife that has mental issues. I can not wait to see the tables turned and her spend her time under s cell.
Preparations under way to have Walt Wilkins thrown out of office and stripped of his law license. Prosecutorial misconduct is one of the allegations being brought.