Prominent attorney and former South Carolina State Accident Fund (SCSAF) director Harry Gregory is scheduled to appear before a Richland County magistrate later this month for a preliminary hearing on a child sex charge.
Gregory is scheduled to appear at Richland County central court (2500 Decker Boulevard) in Columbia, S.C. at 12:00 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, July 26, 2022.
According to the Richland County public index, Gregory is accused of “committing or attempting a lewd act upon a child” under the age of sixteen.
The influential attorney was arrested on March 18, 2021 in a predawn raid of his home – located in the the affluent Forest Hills neighborhood of downtown Columbia. Gregory was released on a $100,000 personal recognizance bond the following day. A personal recognizance bond does not require a defendant to put up any money – only to promise to attend scheduled hearings.
A week after his arrest, Gregory’s license to practice law was suspended by the S.C. supreme court.
Gregory headed up the SCSAF – which provides workers’ compensation insurance to state employees – from 2003 to 2017. He was appointed to that role by former governor Mark Sanford and reappointed by former governor Nikki Haley.
As I noted in the aftermath of Gregory’s arrest, many Columbia, S.C. residents believe he is somehow connected to what is arguably the most infamous missing persons case in the history of the Palmetto State: The disappearance of Dail Dinwiddie.
In fact, there was speculation Gregory’s 2021 arrest – and a subsequent search of his property – was related to the ongoing search for Dinwiddie, a 23-year-old art student who vanished without a trace from the Five Points region of Columbia, S.C. during the early morning hours of September 24, 1992.
I addressed that speculation extensively in this post.
As with anyone accused of committing any crime, Gregory is considered innocent until proven guilty by our criminal justice system – or until such time as he may wish to enter some form of allocution in connection with a plea agreement related to any of the charges filed against him.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
(Via: Johanna Folks/ FITSNews)
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and seven children. And yes, he has LOTS of hats (including that St. Louis Cardinals’ lid pictured above).
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