Governor suspends Midlands councilman arrested for crime involving ‘moral turpitude’
In Mayesville, a small Midlands town, a council member was arrested and accused of threatening the life of the mayor in July, according to the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. The arrest came after months of what law enforcement has characterized as an escalating pattern of harassment against Mayor Jarleen Holliman-Miller.
Councilman Terrence Reginald Wilson, 56, was charged with threatening the life of a public official and third-degree assault and battery, the sheriff’s office said in July.
On Monday, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster suspended Wilson from office because the crime he was indicted for involved “moral turpitude.”
The suspension was issued after a grand jury convened on Oct. 6, and indicted Wilson for threatening the life of a public official, according to the governor’s executive order.
Under South Carolina law, moral turpitude implies “something immoral in itself, regardless of whether it is punishable by law as a crime,” according to the executive order.
“Wilson is suspended until such a time as he is formally acquitted, convicted, or until a duly elected successor is qualified and takes the oath of office,” McMaster’s executive order says.
In a video provided to law enforcement and posted on Facebook, Mayesville’s newest councilman is seen climbing out of a red and black pickup truck and approaching the mayor’s office, loudly yelling his own name.
“The building’s supposed to be closed,” Wilson yelled through the glass at Patina Calhoun, a local businesswoman who was inside with the mayor and shot the video.
“You all recording me? That’s not going to do any good,” he said, as he paced outside the building.
As Wilson turned to leave, he stopped and yelled “Bang! Bang!” The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office said that he was imitating a gun.
“I’m a bad man, girl,” Wilson yelled from his truck window before driving off.
According to law enforcement, Wilson was ordered to pay a $6,000 surety bond for both charges and has been given a no-contact order from the court ordering him to stay away from the mayor outside of town council meetings.
“He threatened my life,” said Calhoun, the business owner who filmed the encounter, told The State.
Wilson is described as having a waged a campaign of disruption against the mayor over the past year. According to Major Terrance Stewart from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, Wilson has repeatedly showed up at the mayor’s office since the start of the year. Law enforcement has also had to be present at town council meetings because of Wilson’s behavior, Stewart said.
Mayesville is a historic town in the northeast of Sumter County. In the 2020 census its population was just 674 people. The offices of mayor and council member are not full-time jobs.
This story was originally published July 2, 2022 at 1:48 PM.
