FALLOUT FROM ALLEGED AFFAIR “UNFAIR”
Alex Underwood is the sheriff of Chester County, S.C. He goes by the nickname “Big A.” Seriously. Check out his agency’s website. He’s listed as “Big A” Underwood.
Anyway, “Big A” appears to be in some “Big T.” As in trouble.
Specifically, several Chester County residents have reached out to us questioning why he hasn’t lost his job over an alleged affair with a local high school cheerleading coach.
Hold up … an affair? Ugh. Haven’t we repeatedly said we don’t really care if local officials are messing around so long as they aren’t pulling a Mark Sanford and wasting our tax dollars in the process? Or being moralistic hypocrites about it?
Yes … that is how we feel these stories.
In this case, though, “Big A” is dealing with criticism because while was able to keep his job after everything went down – the woman he was allegedly involved with lost her position as a cheerleading coach at Chester High School.
“Unfair,” one local resident told us.
The alleged dalliance is referenced in documents turned over by the Chester County school district to a local watchdog under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Those documents were recently provided to us.
The cheerleading coach – Kim Sanders – stepped down from her post in September of 2014 when she was confronted about the alleged tryst.
“Big A?” He’s still the big dog in Chester.
The document referencing her “voluntary” resignation also details how the parent whose daughter blew the whistle on the scandal insisted upon the information being provided in the “strictest confidence” because they both “feared retaliation and harassment from Sheriff Underwood and his deputies.”
A rural county located midway between Charlotte, N.C. and Columbia, S.C., Chester is home to an estimated 32,000 people – down from its peak population of 34,000 back in 2000. It is one of the poorest counties in the Palmetto State.
(Banner image via Chester County Sheriff)