Trial postponed for former SC councilman accused of child sexual abuse
The trial of former Bamberg County Councilman Kerry Trent Kinard who is accused of child molestation has been postpone to August 30, according to prosecutors.
Bamberg County Deputy Solicitor David Miller confirmed the delay, noting, “It’s not abnormal” for trials to be rescheduled for later dates.
Judge Clifton Newman will reside over the trial.
In September 2020, state police charged Kinard with seven felony offenses related to alleged sexual abuse and misconduct with children in Bamberg County, including first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor and first-degree assault and battery. The abuse, which included touching a boy and asking a girl to have sex with him, happened between 2008 and 2020, according to warrants.
Kinard’s trial was set to begin July 12 before the postponement.
Kinard was elected to Bamberg County Council in 2012 and was suspended by Gov. Henry McMaster in 2020 following the charges. He also used to be an S.C. Highway Patrol trooper, a Jasper County magistrate and a sports information director at the University of South Carolina’s Salkehatchie campus.
Kinard also faces three other counts of child sexual abuse in Jasper County, including allegations that he attempted to rape a child and showed pornography to another.
In April, Kinard pleaded guilty to federal charges of lying about being under indictment and a restraining order on an application to buy a handgun. Kinard was under indictment for child molestation and his wife had a restraining order against him when he tried to buy the gun the previous December.
Kinard is jailed at Clarendon County Detention Center.