Lawsuit: SC lawyer hid cameras in beach rental unit and videoed guests in intimate acts

An Aiken lawyer facing criminal charges related to possessing child sex images and voyeurism put hidden cameras in a Folly Beach rental unit and filmed renters — including minors — naked or involved in intimate acts, according to a lawsuit filed this week.

William “Danny” Mayes, whose law license was suspended by the State Supreme Court in November, was named as a defendant in a civil lawsuit filed Tuesday in Aiken County state court charging him with negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress and invasion of privacy.

One of the victims was a 10-year-old child videoed in the act of undressing, according to an affidavit in the case.

The lawsuit alleges that Mayes owned a rental unit at Folly Beach, a resort island south of Charleston, and videoed people who rented the unit without their knowledge.

In October, State Attorney General Alan Wilson announced Mayes’ arrest on seven charges relating to the sexual exploitation of minors. Wilson said investigators received a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which led them to Mayes. Investigators alleged that Mayes recorded a person without their consent and possessed files of child sexual abuse material.

In December, the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office charged Mayes with 14 counts of voyeurism in the first degree and one count of sexual exploitation of a minor in the first degree in connection with videos made in the Folly Beach unit. He is free on $260,000 bond.

Attorney Shaun Kent of Manning, who along with attorney Alexandra Benevento of Columbia is representing Mayes on his criminal charges, had no comment about them. No attorney was listed in public court records as Mayes’ civil attorney.

Tuesday’s lawsuit gave further details about Mayes and his alleged criminal exploits.

Last fall, after authorities got the tip about Mayes, they executed a search warrant on his personal residence in Aiken, where they discovered numerous videos “of nude people and children who were in a property” owned by Mayes, the lawsuit said.

According to the search warrant, Mayes “admitted setting up cameras to record people who were renting his unit, and he confirmed he possessed a Dropbox account where officers located hundreds of videos,” the lawsuit said.

That Dropbox account contained a folder labeled “Folly HC,” which contained hidden camera footage at the Folly Beach unit, the lawsuit said.

Within “Folly HC,” law enforcement discovered video footage of the plaintiff in Tuesday’s lawsuit that showed her undressing and without clothes, the lawsuit said. One such video was set to music.

Law enforcement authorities then notified the victim, who brought a lawsuit against Mayes. (The State generally does not identify victims of alleged sex crimes.)

Mayes’ wife, Shannon, who handled the renting of the unit, is accused of negligence in Tuesday’s lawsuit, but is not accused of having anything to do with the hidden cameras and their videos.

The civil lawsuit was brought by attorney Deborah Barbier of Columbia.

In September, Barbier was a member of the legal team that won a $45 million verdict in a lawsuit against Rhett Riviere, a prominent Aiken resident who had stashed hidden cameras in houses he rented to visitors in Aiken, a tourist city. The verdict included actual and punitive damages.

That lawsuit, brought by a young couple who had rented the unit, accused Riviere of invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, unfair trade practices, negligence and voyeurism. Riviere had made more than 20,000 videos over the years of unsuspecting renters, according to evidence at the trial.

Criminal charges against Riviere are pending. The Riviere and Mayes cases do not appear to be related.

Mayes had specialized for 28 years in worker’s compensation law and also handled Social Security and disability cases, according to an Internet lawyers’ directory. His Facebook page said he is a 1992 graduate of the University of South Carolina and a 1995 graduate of the USC School of Law.

After he was arrested, the Aiken law firm he had worked with quickly deleted his name from its roster of lawyers and dropped his name from the firm’s name.

Barbier told The State, “Hidden cameras in rental units are an epidemic. My client is not intimidated or scared, and she intends to hold everyone accountable for these ultimate violations.”