Gov. McMaster suspends SC sheriff charged with punching woman in the face
Gov. Henry McMaster has suspended the South Carolina sheriff who was arrested on a domestic violence charge and indicted by a grand jury Thursday.
Colleton County Sheriff R.A. Strickland was indicted by a state grand jury, a spokesman for South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson told The State.
That allowed the governor to suspend Strickland for a crime of “moral turpitude,” according to state law.
The governor could not take any action against Strickland, prior to the indictment, but indicated he would suspend the sheriff.
“I think most of us in this state have zero tolerance for domestic violence,” McMaster previously said, according to The State. “It’s a scourge.”
If Strickland is convicted, the governor can remove him from office, McMaster said.
On Tuesday, Florence McCants, a major with the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy told The State Strickland’s certification as a law enforcement officer was suspended by the group.
On Nov. 9, Strickland was arrested by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division on a second-degree domestic violence charge.
The 40-year-old sheriff was involved in an altercation with an unidentified “household member,” according to SLED.
Strickland punched the woman “in the face, with a closed fist more than once, which caused moderate bodily injury,” SLED agents said in an affidavit. Her arm was also injured when she tried to block the blows to her face in the Nov. 7 incident, according to the affidavit.
The redacted police report does not identify the person Strickland assaulted, or his relationship to the woman.
In addition to attacking the woman, Strickland took both of her phones and prevented her from reporting the incident or receiving emergency medical assistance, according to an incident report. She ran away, the report says, and Strickland damaged her vehicle, according to SLED.
After being booked into the Colleton County Detention Center, a judge released him on a $5,000 personal recognizance bond, meaning he did not have to pay bail, court records show.
The next scheduled court date for Strickland is Feb. 14, 2020, records show.
Two days after he was charged, Strickland placed himself on a leave of absence, “to heal, and self-reflect on myself,” The State reported.
Strickland tabbed Chief Deputy Buddy Hill to run the department in his absence, but on Thursday McMaster appointed SLED Lieutenant Charles Lytle Ghent to serve as sheriff. The 42-year-old from Edisto Beach will be in charge until Strickland is “acquitted, convicted, the indictment is otherwise disposed of, or until a sheriff is elected and qualifies in the next general election,” according to the governor’s office.
The National Action Network issued a letter to McMaster demanding Strickland’s “immediate removal from office as the sheriff of Colleton County,” WCSC reported.
The last time McMaster suspended an elected official was when Greenville County Sheriff William Lewis was indicted on charges of misconduct in office and obstruction of justice, according to an executive order from the governor’s office.
Second degree domestic violence is a misdemeanor punishable by up to three years in prison and fines, according to South Carolina law. A person convicted of domestic violence is also barred from carrying firearms, which means a conviction effectively ends a person’s career in law enforcement. To be charged with domestic violence in S.C., a person has to assault a spouse, former spouse, a person with a child in common or a person who lives or lived with the assaulter.
The S.C. Attorney General’s office will lead the prosecution against Strickland, with help from the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, according to a statement from Wilson.
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This story was originally published November 21, 2019 at 12:20 PM.
