Lawyer of Chapin football star, N.C. State commit, says he passed a lie detector test
The lawyer for one of South Carolina’s top high school football players who is charged with sexual conduct with a minor said he passed a lie detector test when asked about facts germane to the case.
At a bond hearing Thursday afternoon, attorney Jim May spoke in defense of 18-year-old David Bennett Galloway III, a running back for Chapin High School. The lie detector test was administered by a former FBI agent, May said.
Galloway “has never been in trouble before,” May told the judge. People say Galloway is a kid “they wish they had” and a “model student.”
Galloway had no previous arrests, May and a deputy said.
A victims advocate was at the bond hearing, held at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center. The mother of the victim did not comment on the case through the advocate but requested that Galloway be ordered to not contact her daughter or other minors.
The victim is 13 years old, according to a deputy who spoke in court.
Galloway was at a party with the victim on Oct. 2 when the incident is alleged to have occurred, according to authorities. Witnesses and other evidence corroborated the charge, authorities said.
Judge Tobias Ward granted Galloway a $45,000 personal recognizance bond, which means he did not have to pay to get out of jail and will only be required to pay if he breaks the orders of his bond or doesn’t show up to future court hearings.
Ward ordered that Galloway have no contact with the victim and for him to be on house arrest overnight.
The Richland County Sheriff’s Department charged Galloway Thursday morning with second degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor age 11 to 14.
Galloway committed to play at N.C. State on June 2. Galloway is a three-star prospect by 247Sports Composite rankings and the No. 15 ranked prospect in South Carolina for the class of 2022. This season, he has rushed for 1,084 yards and has scored 25 total touchdowns.
In a first-round playoff win over Carolina Forest last week, Galloway had 245 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns. Chapin will play at Fort Dorchester in the second round on Friday.
May is a former assistant U.S. Attorney who helped win hundreds of guilty pleas against high-profile criminals at the former utility SCANA, inside the Irish Travelers community and the Hells Angels biker gang. In August, he left the U.S. Attorney’s office of South Carolina to go into private practice with the Wyche Law Firm.
Second degree criminal sexual conduct is a felony punishable with up to 20 years in prison.
Reporter Lou Bezjak contributed to this story.