SC trooper arrested after claims of sexual assault and battery, SLED says
A former master trooper with the South Carolina Highway Patrol was arrested on an assault and battery charge, after he was accused of making sexual advances toward a home caregiver, according to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.
Wayne Heinz LaBounty, 63, was charged with first-degree assault and battery Tuesday, following an incident last November, where a home caregiver said the former trooper sexually assaulted her, according to a news release.
On Nov. 21, 2025, at around 11 p.m., an unidentified caregiver was at the home of Master Trooper Wayne LaBounty, 63, for a routine therapy session, according to an incident report. As the caretaker was massaging LaBounty’s legs, which were propped over her lap, LaBounty told the woman that he “wished (she) didn’t have to leave” because he wanted to have sex with her, according to the report.
From there, LaBounty “lured” the woman into his bedroom, where she found him standing naked, the report said. The caregiver told deputies “she was shocked by what she saw” and attempted to back out of LaBounty’s bedroom. Before she could do so, however, the woman said LaBounty “pinned her arms by her side against the door and began kissing the right side of her neck,” according to the report.
LaBounty also attempted to put his hand down the caregiver’s pants, and told the victim “What goes on in this house stays in this house,” an arrest warrant said.
The caregiver had been sent to LaBounty’s home after the former trooper was injured following a multiple car collision on U.S. 1/Augusta Highway in Lexington County while conducting a traffic stop on Sept. 9, 2025.
LaBounty was booked into the Lexington County Detention Center.
