Columbia man charged with sex crimes is teaching assistant, school district says
Hours after receiving an anonymous video showing a man engaging in sex acts with a dog, the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department said it arrested a Columbia man on multiple sex crime charges.
Kevin Christopher Billups, 34, also possessed hundreds of images and videos of child pornography, Sheriff Jay Koon said Wednesday in a news release.
On Tuesday, Billups was charged with eight counts of buggery and eight counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, jail records show.
Billups was a Richland School District Two employee, a district spokesperson confirmed. He worked as a teaching assistant and with an after-school program at Lonnie B. Nelson Elementary School. The district suspended Billups Tuesday and he’ll remain suspended while the charges are pending.
Deputies arrested him at the school, the district said. No children saw the arrest. The district informed parents with children in Billups’ class and after-school program of his arrest.
“As you can imagine, we are very disturbed by the charges and are cooperating fully with law enforcement,” the district said in a message to parents. “The information we have received as of today from law enforcement indicates that the incidents that led to the arrest are not connected to our school or our students in any way.“
His bond was set at $240,000 on the combined charges. Billups is still being held at the Lexington County Detention Center, according to jail records.
“We received the first video associated with the dog in the form of an anonymous tip Tuesday morning,” Koon said in the release. “Investigators immediately got a search warrant for Billups’ home and found evidence linking his home with that video. We also found an external hard drive containing hundreds of images and videos of child pornography.”
By Tuesday afternoon, detectives had located Billups, according to the release. He was interviewed, and based on his statements and evidence found in the search of his home, Billups was arrested, the sheriff’s department said.
The sheriff’s department said the investigation remains active.
“Our work on this case continues as part of the South Carolina Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force,” Koon said.
Anyone with information about this case or other potential incidents involving Billups is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 888-CRIME-SC or submit an online tip.
The dog is in the care of an animal rescue organization, Koon said.
If convicted, Billups faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of not less than $500 on each buggery charge, according to South Carolina law. The maximum punishment for a conviction on each charges of felony third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor is 10 years in prison.
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This story was originally published March 10, 2021 at 4:23 PM.
