Agents with the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) confirmed this week that their investigation into Greenville County, S.C. sheriff Will Lewis is “active and ongoing.”
In fact, the investigation has reportedly expanded to include potential misconduct in office charges related to the alleged misappropriation of public money.
Our sources declined to elaborate on the exact direction the investigation is taking, referring us instead to SLED’s public information office.
“We are still actively working it,” SLED spokeswoman Kathryn Richardson told us.
Richardson declined to address specifics of the investigation, however.
Lewis, 42, has been accused of rape, stalking and corruption by 23-year-old Savannah Nabors, one of his former employees at the Greenville County sheriff’s office.
Nabors’ allegations were first reported by this news site – based on a lengthy (but since-deleted) blog post she authored.
“He’s a church-going man, strong in his faith,” she wrote in her post. “You think he could never be capable of something so manipulative, so hypocritical. The man that you think is legal, ethical, and moral is anything but those things.”
We were also first to confirm the existence of the SLED probe into the allegations. Earlier this week, this news site broke even more news related to this case – specifically Nabors’ bombshell lawsuit against Lewis related to those allegations.
According to Nabors’ pleading, Lewis came to her hotel room at the Hyatt Place House Hotel in downtown Charlotte, N.C shortly before midnight on March 7 to retrieve some alcohol he had entrusted to her care earlier in the day. Upon entering her room, Lewis is alleged to have poured each of them a glass “of what appeared to be a brown liquor.”
“(Nabors) had a few sips of her drink, and she began to feel uncomfortable,” the complaint alleges. “(She) does not recall the Sheriff drinking any of the drink that he poured for himself.”
Nabors then claimed to have resisted several romantic advances made by Lewis, who allegedly told her “that she needed to relax.” At that point, Nabors claimed she “began to slip in and out of consciousness.”
Here is the key excerpt from the pleading …
(Nabors) remembers regaining consciousness when the Sheriff was on top of her, having sex with her. It took (her) a second to realize what was happening and she had no idea how long it had gone on. The Sheriff asked (her) if she was ready for him to “finish,” and (she) said yes. The Sheriff then giggled, making a joke about how long he could “last,” and added that he was sure (Nabors) was not used to that. (Nabors) then lost consciousness again.
Nabors’ lawsuit didn’t necessarily prove the rape allegation, but it contained a treasure trove of evidence against Lewis – including damning recordings that revealed the extent of his stalking and harassment of the young female aide.
Perhaps even more damaging, the recordings submitted by Nabors detailed Lewis’ efforts to use taxpayer resources in the furtherance of an extramarital affair with her.
For that alone, we believe Lewis must step down … irrespective of the outcome of the investigation of the rape allegation against him.
Sources close to Lewis acknowledge a sexual relationship between him and Nabors, but they say the dalliance – which occurred while both of them were married – was consensual. They also say Nabors has had sexual relations with several other members of the Greenville County sheriff’s office, and has sought to keep those affairs secret during the course of the SLED investigation into Lewis.
Lewis was scheduled to address Upstate media outlets regarding the lawsuit on Thursday afternoon. We’ll be sure to let our readers know what he said.
UPDATE: Here’s what he said …
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