‘High-Level Risk’: Serial Accused Abuser Set Free By Ousted South Carolina Judge

I’ve only met Gil Gatch once in person when he approached me and a third party outside the statehouse after a House Constitutional sub-committee meeting this past Spring. As I watched him amble past the food tent in front of the Blatt building where legislators and others enjoyed the catered free lunch of the day (a location I’m told is a geographical workaround for donors who would be in violation of ethics statutes if free meals were provided indoors), Gatch puffed on what would, on closer inspection, be revealed as a rough-hewn corn cob pipe (I kid you not).

At Gatch’s arrival, I shook his outstretched hand on reflex, though I did not bother hiding my absolute distaste for the experience. Reflecting on the numerous, well-documented reports of Gatch’s figurative raping and pillaging of his own Family Court clientele, I fought the urge to wipe my palm down my fabric covered thigh.

Though it has been confirmed beyond the shadow of all doubt that Gatch knew precisely who I was at the time of this impromptu meeting, he pretended he did not. When he asked where I was from and I replied, “Horry County,” he lamented the corruption at the Horry County Courthouse, singling out the Court Records department in particular for its employees’ inability or refusal to follow proper protocols.

At my blank expression, Gatch turned his attention toward my companion. While he happily puffed away on his rustic pipe, overly conditioned beard glinting in the morning sun, Gatch launched into an “Aw, shucks, I’m a good guy, former youth pastor, part-time guitarist, champion of the down-trodden” routine. Taking in his perfectly waxed moustache, perfectly tailored blue windowpane suit, flashy dress socks and high-dollar soft leather shoes, I marveled at the tableau he presented. The only things missing were the rows of snake oil shelved behind him. When Gatch complained about his low paying gig as a House Representative and how “after figuring in parking fees” he actually lost money through his public service, I managed to tear my gaze from the spectacle to gage my companion’s reaction. To my relief, my companion appeared equally unimpressed, seemingly in possession of his own false face detector.

After Gatch further lamented that he had never been offered a bribe as a legislator (if this was a joke, it fell pancake flat), he doubled down on the “sound of crickets” reaction to his statement by adding that he wouldn’t have accepted a bribe anyway as fellow legislators had warned him that anyone offering a bribe outright was likely an undercover FBI agent. Again, if this was a joke, Gil Gatch picked the wrong audience. Before he finally turned to walk away, Gatch seemed to make a show of offering his business card to my companion (not me). When I was younger, this might have made me question Mr. Gatch’s attitude toward women. These days, I make no assumptions based on this gesture. These days, I’m old enough to understand someone can be a ill-mannered, or even an outright cad without any inherent basis in sexism whatsoever.

Relevant to current events, Gatch co-sponsored a bill last session with Camden area attorney Ben Connell who is currently running in the special election for Kershaw County Council Chairman). This bill would have required that all guardians ad litem must be licensed attorneys, thereby locking down the corrupt triumvirate of attorney/GAL/judge that routinely robs citizens of children, livelihoods, businesses, properties, college & retirement funds, and freedom from false commitment/incarceration. Luckily, the proposed legislation was not pursued. Hopefully, this bill, nor any bill predicated on the notion of further empowering lawyers, will ever be pursued again. As my extended family and Mr. Connell’s family go back a long way, we would like to believe Mr. Connell was duped into co-sponsorship of this bill with Mr. Gatch.

And I agree with the above comment regarding Micah Caskey. As an absolute novice to political theater, I watched Representative Caskey’s actions (among others’) this past session with utter disbelief and genuine horror. Continually, I found myself questioning how a system could have veered so far from decisions based on facts, common sense, honesty, and productivity. A heart-breaking, terrifying clown show, indeed.

With few exceptions (Perhaps Speaker Pro Tempore Tommy Pope?), I have come to think of lawyer/legislators in South Carolina as “GATGA” – “Go Along to Get Along” or “GATCH” – “Go Along To Cause Harm.”

Ginger Dunn