Suspended SC councilman to be charged with more child sex crimes, SLED says
State authorities will hit a suspended Bamberg County councilman and former police officer charged with molesting children with more charges in the coming days.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division will serve Kerry Trent Kinard, the former councilman, with three new charges on Jan. 29, according to filings in federal court.
The warrants, filed in federal court, claim that between 1993 and 2000 in Jasper County Kinard attempted to rape a juvenile as well as molested and showed pornography to a juvenile.
The warrants are inline with the current investigation and previous charges, SLED spokesperson, Tommy Crosby said.
In September 2020, state police charged Kinard with seven felony offenses related to alleged sex crimes against children, including first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor and first-degree assault and battery.
The charges stem from incidents between 2008 and September 2020, SLED said.
Kinard is currently under federal custody after the South Carolina U.S. attorney charged him with trying to purchase a gun while under indictment and a restraining order.
With the charges and restraining order against him, Kinard was not allowed to buy a gun. But federal agents said that on Dec. 3, Kinard, who was out of jail on bond, went to a Columbia gun store to buy a pistol. Kinard lied on paperwork filed with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in an attempt to obtain the gun.
SLED agents are coordinating with federal authorities to serve the latest warrants against Kinard, Crosby said.
Kinard is a former police officer. Police records show that he was with the Allendale Police Department in 1993 and with the Department of Public Safety from 1994 to 1998, when the new crimes he’s accused of were allegedly committed.
This story was originally published January 15, 2021 at 4:04 PM.