Latest news with #Shealy
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
A Lexington councilman was fined for endorsing a SC lawmaker. Why?
A Lexington town council member was fined for violating South Carolina ethics laws when he endorsed a South Carolina lawmaker who was up for re-election. The complaint against Gavin Smith, who's served as a town councilman for Lexington since winning a special election in May 2023, came after he endorsed then state Sen. Katrina Shealy, R-Lexington, who was up for re-election. Debbie Heim, the vice chair of the Lexington County Republican Party which had endorsed Shealy's opponent Carlisle Kennedy, brought the matter to the attention of the state's ethics commission in June of last year. During a June town council meeting, Smith voiced support for Shealy, which violated an ethics law that prohibits elected officials from using public funds, property or time to influence an election. Smith told the ethics commission that he'd asked the town's attorney, who at the time was Brad Cunningham, over text if he was allowed to endorse Shealy during a meeting and was given the OK. 'Mr. Cunningham responded that he didn't think it violated any laws and that it had been done a few times before. I had no reason to doubt the advice of the town's attorney,' Smith told The State. In the fall of 2023, when then-councilwoman Kathy Maness chose not to run for re-election, she encouraged people to go vote on two occasions during council meetings and to 'study the candidates.' 'We have some candidates who will continue to make Lexington a great place to live, work, worship and go to school. But in my opinion we have others running who will set Lexington back and that can't happen,' Maness said during a November 2023 meeting. She stopped short of officially endorsing a candidate or mentioning names, but described in detail the candidates who concerned her. When reached by a reporter, Cunningham, who retired as the town's attorney in December of last year, declined to comment on the matter. In March, the commission found Smith in violation of that law and he was made to pay $600 – a civil penalty of $200 and an administrative fee of $400. The commission reduced Smith's civil penalty because he received 'improper legal advice' regarding his actions, according to the order. 'Smith's use of public property and time to influence an election were thoughtful, deliberate and a violation of [the law]', Heim wrote in her complaint to the ethics commission. Shealy, a 12-year incumbent, lost the June 2024 runoff election to Kennedy. She was one of three Republican women who blocked a near total abortion ban from passing the S.C. Senate in 2023 – Shealy along with the other two women, Penry Gustafson and Sandy Senn, lost their primary elections. Heim serves as the vice chair of the Lexington County Republican Party, which endorsed Zoe Warren in the primary, and then supported Kennedy over Shealy when the race went to a runoff. But Heim said her filing of the complaint had nothing to do with who Smith was endorsing. She added that she was not a voting member on the board that chose to endorse Kennedy. 'It's not about protecting a party, it's not about playing sides. He's an elected official, he had a clear violation of the ethics code … I have a duty to report that,' Heim said. 'He could've encouraged people to vote for Carlisle Kennedy and I still would've had a responsibility to report that.' The complaint isn't the first time Republicans in Lexington have butted heads with each other, nor the first time some Republicans have pushed against Smith despite him running on a conservative platform. When Smith ran for office in 2023, he faced backlash for being gay. On election day, protesters against his campaign showed up outside polling places, one holding a sign saying that Smith didn't reflect Lexington values because he had a husband. 'Obviously Gavin Smith is a hard no for me. Of course most conservative Christians will recoil from having a councilman who has a husband, but it goes beyond that,' wrote Mandy Allen in a 2023 Facebook post. Allen and her family, who own Momma Rabbit's Nibbles and Sips, are outspoken Republicans in the area. A member of the family, Will Allen, has a seat on Lexington Town Council. Smith is up for re-election in the fall. He said he'd learned from the mistake and had used it as an opportunity to establish a better working relationship with the state's ethics commission. 'Too often, elected officials deflect or shift blame when something goes wrong, but, to me, that's not leadership … the honest thing here to do is acknowledge that yes, I went to seek out legal advice, but at the end of the day, I have to own the mistake,' Smith told The State. 'My parents raised me to understand that none of us are perfect and that we're going to make mistakes, but they also taught me that what defines us is not the mistakes that we make, but the honesty and the humility and the integrity we show in owning those mistakes and the following steps we take to make sure those mistakes don't happen again.'
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Yahoo
Former Rock Hill PD detective convicted of possession of child pornography in federal case
COLUMBIA, S.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — A federal jury in Columbia convicted former Rock Hill Police officer Daniel Paul Shealy Thursday on 18 counts of possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material, the U.S. Attorney's Office for South Carolina reported. According to evidence presented during trial, in 2023 investigators with the York County Sheriff's Office received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that three videos depicting the sexual abuse of children were flagged on the social messaging app Kik, under the username 'orgasmd0nor.' Investigators with the sheriff's office and FBI traced the account and IP address to 36-year-old Shealy, a detective and former school resource officer at South Pointe High School. Court documents further revealed that Shealy was a member of more than 40 private groups on Kik allegedly designed for users to trade child sexual abuse material, including groups with references to minors, teens, and incest in the titles. PREVIOUS: Jury selection begins in federal child pornography case against former Rock Hill detective Investigators testified during trial that after receiving the tip, they executed a search warrant on Shealy's phone and his Kik account. Shealy's phone was in his patrol car and accessible through his thumbprint and a passcode, which was his badge number. The U.S. Attorneys Office says agents recovered 126 explicit videos of children from Shealy's phone and Kik account, which he had received or distributed to others on the internet. He was arrested by York County deputies Sept. 28, 2023, and was held without bond. The jury returned a guilty verdict following three days of testimony and an hour and a half of deliberation. Court documents say Shealy admitted at trial that he operated the account being investigated and accessed the unlawful material on the platform. He also admitted that he never reported the any of the videos to Kik or to law enforcement because he either did not know how to report or was concerned about his privacy related to his intimate life. Shealy was taken into custody at the conclusion of the trial. 'The facts alone in this case were disturbing but became even more appalling because the defendant was a police officer, an individual given immense public trust,' said U.S. Attorney Bryan Stirling for the District of South Carolina. 'We remain committed to holding those who betray public trust accountable and protecting our most vulnerable citizens, our children. We're grateful to the FBI, York County Sheriff's Office for their work on this case and our trial attorneys that worked diligently to bring this man to justice.' Sushi distributor creating 146 jobs with move to Rock Hill Shealy faces a mandatory minimum of five years in federal prison and a maximum of 20 years. He also faces a fine of up to $250,000, restitution, lifetime supervision to follow the term of imprisonment, and sex offender registry requirements. U.S. District Judge Joseph F. Anderson Jr. presided over the trial and will sentence Shealy at a later date, Shealy was fired by Rock Hill Police the day of the arrest. He had been a member of the department since 2011. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Yahoo
Former police officer convicted of possession of child sex abuse material
A federal jury convicted a former Rock Hill police officer for the possession of child sex abuse material. In December 2023, investigators with the York County Sheriff's Office received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that three videos depicting the sexual abuse of children were flagged on the social messaging app Kik, under the username 'orgasmd0nor.' Investigators eventually traced the account and IP address to 36-year-old Daniel Paul Shealy, a detective and former school resource officer with the Rock Hill Police Department. Shealy was then charged with distributing and receiving child sex abuse materials. PERVIOUS COVERAGE: Former police officer accused of having child sex abuse material faces federal charges Further investigation revealed that Shealy was a member of more than 40 private groups on Kik designed for users to trade child sexual abuse material, including groups with references to minors, teens, and incest in the titles. According to testimony from a Kik representative, users in such groups often exchange images and videos of rape, sexual assault, bestiality, and other abuse of children. Investigators testified during the trial that after receiving the tip, they executed a search warrant on Shealy's phone and his Kik account. Shealy's phone was in his patrol car and accessible through his thumbprint and a passcode, which was his badge number. Agents said they recovered 126 explicit videos of children from Shealy's phone and Kik account, which Shealy had received or distributed to others on the internet. The files included recordings of prepubescent minors in bondage and constraints, and child sex abuse materials represented the majority of the explicit content recovered from his Kik account. When Shealy testified at trial, he admitted that he operated the orgasmd0nor account and that he accessed child sex abuse material on the platform. He also admitted that he never reported any of the videos to Kik or to law enforcement because he either did not know how to report or was concerned about his privacy related to his intimate life. Shealy was taken into custody at the conclusion of the trial. 'The facts alone in this case were disturbing, but became even more appalling because the defendant was a police officer, an individual given immense public trust,' said U.S. Attorney Bryan Stirling for the District of South Carolina. 'We remain committed to holding those who betray public trust accountable and protecting our most vulnerable citizens, our children. We're grateful to the FBI and York County Sheriff's Office for their work on this case and our trial attorneys who worked diligently to bring this man to justice.' Shealy faces a mandatory minimum of five years in federal prison and a maximum of 20 years. He also faces a fine of up to $250,000, restitution, lifetime supervision to follow the term of imprisonment, and sex offender registry requirements. VIDEO: Former police officer accused of having child sex abuse material faces federal charges
Miami Herald
04-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
Massive snake — one of the biggest in captivity — dies at Florida tourist attraction
A python believed to be among the largest snakes in captivity has died at a southwest Florida tourist attraction, giving handlers a chance to see just how big she got over the past 30 years. Final measurement: 25 feet, 8 inches, according to David Shealy, a member of the Shealy family that has long operated Skunkape Headquarters in Ochopee. The snake was popularly known by the name Goldie. 'It is with heavy hearts that we announced the passing of our beloved giant snake,' the attraction wrote in a Feb. 27 Facebook post that has gotten hundreds of reactions and comments. 'Goldie passed away due to complications of old age, and she will be deeply missed by all of us. ... She was truly a legend among reticulated pythons.' The 400-pound snake was a key attraction for Skunkape Headquarters — currently owned and operated by Shealy's son Jack Shealy — which advertised her as 'one of the largest snakes held in captivity.' Guinness World Records reports the biggest reticulated python ever captured was 32 feet, 9.5 inches, and the longest living in captivity was a 25-foot, 2-inch snake that died in 2011 in Kansas City, Missouri. That means Goldie was about 6 inches longer at the time of her death. 'She came to us in the early 2000s after being rehomed from a zoo and spending a few years as a household pet. At that time, she was estimated to be between 10 and 15 years old,' Skunkape Headquarters wrote in its Facebook post. The attraction, which is about a 75-mile drive west from Miami, pondered ways to memorialize Goldie and came up with a plan to have her hide professionally tanned for display. That's how an accurate measurement was achieved, David Shealy said. 'The plan is to preserve the skin in a climate-controlled glass box where people can view it hopefully for many generations to come and it will be inside of our Gladesman Heritage Exhibit,' he said in an email to McClatchy News. Goldie was like a member of the family, Shealy said, but handlers never forgot that she was capable of swallowing a 150-pound human. Her diet consisted of thawed-out frozen rabbits, whole chickens 'and occasionally a raccoon or possum' found dead on roads, he said. 'The rule was we never opened the cage without others there to assist if there was a problem,' he said. 'Even though I knew her well she was full of surprises and could strike a distance of more than 9 feet in what seemed like a flash of light.'
