Teen girl was raped by man she trusted, SC prosecutor says. Here’s his punishment
A South Carolina man is going to prison years after a 13-year-old girl was raped, the 5th Circuit Solicitor’s Office said Monday in a news release.
On April 11, a Richland County jury found Edwin Carl Haney guilty of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor, the solicitor’s office said in the release.
The 42-year-old Elgin resident was given the maximum punishment, a 20-year sentence in a South Carolina Department of Corrections prison, Richland County court records show. Haney must also must register as a sex offender, according to the release.
During the 5-day trial, the jury heard testimony from the victim, who was 13 at the time of the assault, the solicitor’s office said. The victim said that Haney was someone she trusted before he raped her one night in January 2020, according to the release.
The victim’s mother testified about the changes she saw in her daughter’s behavior since that time, but attributed them to adolescence or the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the solicitor’s office said. The changes included isolation, weight gain, and neglect of personal hygiene.
The victim confided in only one peer until 2022, when she finally told her mother, according to the release. At that time, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department investigated, leading to Haney’s arrest, the solicitor’s office said.
“Law enforcement, medical and mental health experts testified, explaining how victims of child sexual abuse are groomed and often delay disclosing their experiences to adults out of fear of the consequences for themselves and their loved ones,” the solicitor’s office said in the release.
Assistant Solicitors Theresa Johns and Allison Foster prosecuted the case for the solicitor’s office, while Columbia attorney Dayne Phillips was listed as Haney’s lawyer, according to court records. Judge Heath Taylor oversaw the trial, according to the release.
April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, the solicitor’s office said. To learn more about child abuse and prevention, visit National Children’s Alliance or Darkness to Light.
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