Top official at Camden Military Academy sexually preyed on former student, lawsuit alleges

A lawsuit filed in federal court alleges that a former top official at Camden Military Academy preyed on a student at the school and sexually abused him.

The lawsuit, filed last week, names as defendants the alleged perpetrator, John Heflin, who was dean of students and a cross country coach; Camden Military Academy, and four high-ranking Camden Military officials who the lawsuit alleged supervised Heflin during his years at the school.

Camden Military Academy officials did not reply to a request for comment.

Heflin was charged last September by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division with criminal solicitation of a minor involving a different alleged victim.

The lawsuit was filed by a Florida resident and former Camden Military Academy student who was 14 years old at the school in 2015 when the events described in the lawsuit allegedly took place.

Heflin is no longer employed by Camden Military Academy, a military-style, all-male boarding school in Camden on a 40-acre campus where tuition starts at $29,995 per year. The school has grades 7 to 12 and advertises itself as a place where students can build leadership and strong character.

Other Camden Military Academy staff named in the lawsuit are Brad Lawing, commandant of cadets; Head of School Eric Boland; Casey Robinson, dean of enrollment and administration; and David Thomley, director of campus safety and security.

The lawsuit alleges that Lawing, Boland, Robinson and Thomley “maintained a culture of willing indifference and reckless disregard by failing to monitor Defendant Heflin and by consciously allowing and permitting students to stay overnight at his private residence.”

Specific acts against Heflin alleged in the lawsuit include “numerous acts of criminal sexual conduct” that occurred on a near daily basis. Heflin also offered the plaintiff pornography and alcohol and once took him to Myrtle Beach, the lawsuit alleged. Heflin also sent the boy sexually explicit videos and photos, the lawsuit alleges.

Offenses alleged in the lawsuit include sexual battery by Heflin, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent supervision of Heflin by top school officials and civil conspiracy.

The plaintiff’s lawyers are Josh Allen, Donald Chuck Allen and Austin McLain, all of Anderson. They seek a jury trial.

Judge Mary Geiger Lewis is handling the case.

No lawyers are yet listed for Camden Military Academy on the federal court records database.

In last September’s arrest by SLED, Hefllin was accused of urging a student to send a photo of his private parts to him via social media, according to SLED.

A warrant in that case charged that Heflin “had engaged in sexually explicit conversations” with the juvenile for two years, between 2022 and 2024, with Heflin telling the juvenile what he would ”love to do” if the juvenile came to his house. The charges are pending in Kershaw County state court.

Williams Tetterton, the Camden attorney who represents Heflin in the criminal case, did not reply to a request for comment.

Heflin was also a defendant in a 2017 lawsuit in federal court against him, Camden Military Academy and two other top military academy officials that alleged Heflin preyed on a 14-year-old boy at the school, sending him hundreds of text messages and transporting the boy to his home.

In responses to that lawsuit, Camden Military Academy officials denied the allegations and said they were groundless.

That lawsuit was settled in November 2018, according to an order signed by Judge Lewis. The settlement terms were not disclosed. Parties in many kinds of federal court lawsuits are allowed to agree to secret settlements that prevent the public from finding out how much was paid to end the lawsuit.

The school is located just to the northeast of the city of Camden.