Lowcountry, South Carolina activists – including black nationalist Shakem Amen Akhet – are calling on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and several black members of the S.C. General Assembly to launch an investigation into the Charleston County School District (CCSD) following last month’s seismic child molestation reports.
According to a statement provided to this news outlet, the activists want “an immediate investigation into the negligence and mishandling of evidence by (district) officials” related to the case of the late Marvin Gethers.
Gethers was employed by the district from 2000 to 2007 and again from 2010 to 2016. In January of 2014, district technology specialists found child pornography on his laptop during what was described as a “routine virus scan.”
“Multiple images were found showing children engaged in sexual activity with other children as well as images of children engaged in sexual activity with adults,” a law enforcement affidavit noted.
Astoundingly, it took nearly two months for district officials to turn Gethers’ laptop over to the North Charleston police department. From there, it took another two years for the Charleston County sheriff’s office to return its forensic analysis of the computer – which revealed “12,363 entries for pornographic websites and searches for pornography” along with “9,504 pornographic images, 42 of which involved minors.”
All the while, Gethers continued to work at Dunston elementary school – and in fact received a promotion and pay raise from the district in October 2014, a little over nine months after the child porn was found on his laptop.
During that time, he allegedly molested two children at the school.
The scandal surrounding the school district’s mishandling of this case was first reported by Carter Coyle of WCSC TV-5 (CBS – Charleston, South Carolina).
[timed-content-server show=’2018-Jan-17 00:00:00′ hide=’2018-Oct-22 00:00:00′] [su_dominion_video_scb] [/timed-content-server]Activists now want the FBI and SLED to investigate. They also want state lawmakers – including senator Marlon Kimpson and state representatives Marvin Pendarvis, Wendell Gilliard and David Mack III – to hold public hearings on the scandal.
“In the event that this issue isn’t addressed promptly, we will have no other choice but to engage in acts of protests and civil disobedience to bring accountability where it needs to be,” the activists’ statement warned. “Our community cannot tolerate the blatant disregard for children who are under the care of (district) officials while parents are at school, work or home praying for the safety of our children in their care.”
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