Former Winthrop, Clover police officer charged with 49 more child sex crimes
A former police officer who worked at Winthrop University and Clover already jailed for sex crimes against children has been charged with kidnapping among almost 50 more charges involving multiple child victims, according to police and court documents.
Charles Eugene “Chuck” Price, 48, was served 49 arrest warrants late Monday, said Tommy Crosby, spokesman for the State Law Enforcement Division.
Price was served Monday on additional charges of criminal sexual conduct against minors in the first, second, and third-degrees, kidnapping, and other charges at the York County jail, Crosby said.
The charges against Price allege sex assaults dating back to at least 2004 and continued for more than a decade, according to arrest warrants obtained by The Herald. In at least one case, Price is accused of kidnapping after handcuffing a victim, warrants show.
Price was brought from the Lancaster County jail, where he has been held without bond since his Oct. 17 arrest, back to the York County jail where the new charges were served, officials said.
The new charges came a week after he was first arrested by South Carolina agents on three counts of sex crimes involving children, Crosby said.
SLED investigated Price after allegations surfaced in September, York County Sheriff Kevin Tolson said. He asked SLED to investigate because at the time, Price was still a police officer.
Price was a sergeant at the Winthrop police department that handles public safety at the college in Rock Hill. Price was fired from Winthrop on Oct. 17 when he was first arrested, according to a written statement from Winthrop.
Price was an officer at Winthrop from 2011 until he left the department in 2014, then again from 2016 until he was fired, college officials said.
Price was an officer at the Clover Police Department from 2014 through 2016, said Randy Grice, Clover Police chief. Grice said Tuesday he is aware of the investigation and his department has cooperated with SLED.
In a statement, Winthrop officials said none of the charges allege any crimes on campus. Winthrop officials were told in late September about the investigation into Price.
Price was relieved of his badge, credentials and gun in September and escorted off campus by Winthrop officials, the statement said. The college also conducted an internal investigation, school officials said.
After Price was served the new warrants Monday in York County, he was returned to the Lancaster County jail where he is being held without bail.
This story was originally published October 27, 2020 at 9:39 AM with the headline "Former Winthrop, Clover police officer charged with 49 more child sex crimes."
