Anger, Questions in Reville's Wake, by Adam Crisp, The Patch, November 2, 2011

Anger, Questions in Reville's Wake

By Adam Crisp
The Patch
November 2, 2011

http://mountpleasant-sc.patch.com/articles/anger-questions-in-reville-s-wake

Days after police arrested a popular coach and private school administrator on child molestation charges, the community is grappling with the notion that someone who seemed so genuine could have committed these crimes.

"You wouldn't expect this from him," said Ken Ayoub, director of Mount Pleasant's recreation department. "He's a married guy with a family. It just burns you up, and to be honest, it makes me want to choke the life out of him."

Louis "Skip" ReVille, 32, faces six counts of sex abuse charges, and Mount Pleasant Police Chief Harry Sewell told the Post and Courier there likely will be more filed by the end of the week. ReVille reportedly admitted to the crimes while in police custody, according to court documents.

Police allege ReVille performed sex acts on three teenage boys, ages 13 to 15, from November 2010 until October 2011, according to arrest warrants.

A Citadel graduate, and a respected figure in the youth sports community, ReVille worked for free for a year at Coastal Christian Preparatory School before being hired on as the upper school's principal. In addition to his full-time work there, he spent time over the years working at no less than eight other schools or athletic programs, the Post and Courier reports.

[He was] … a teacher and assistant coach at Pinewood Preparatory School in Summerville, a tennis coach at Bishop England High School, a coach at the Mount Pleasant Recreation Department, a basketball coach at Moultrie Middle School, a travel league basketball coach, a coach at Velocity Sports Performance in Mount Pleasant, an occasional volunteer basketball coach at Rollings Middle School of the Arts in Summerville, and a youth group leader at Eastbridge Presbyterian Church in Mount Pleasant. Read the full story.

"He had a good reputation," Ayoub said. "He worked all over, but now you wonder why. It makes you look at everyone with suspicion."

Court records indicate ReVille performed various sexual acts on his alleged victims 50 times over the 11-month period.

ReVille had no criminal record, Ayoub said. The town performs background checks on all employees and volunteers who work with kids, and they are even careful about who hangs out at practices or helps coaches.

But there had been at least one previous allegation of impropriety. While at the Citadel, ReVille worked with youngsters in the military college's summer camps. One student, several years after the fact, came forward with claims.

"In 2007, a former camper accused Mr. ReVille of inappropriate behavior, which he said occurred five years earlier and which he made clear did not include physical contact," Jeff Perez, Vice President for External Affairs, said in a media statement.

"Beyond our investigation, and subsequent discussions with the family of the individual who made the accusation, the matter was not further pursued by The Citadel, or to our knowledge by the family," Perez wrote. "We will cooperate with Mount Pleasant Police in its investigation."

THE AFTERMATH
Now, police and others are attempting to learn the scope of ReVille's abuse beyond what's already known. He is charged with three counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor and three counts of committing a lewd act on a child. He remains held on a $675,000 bond.

Coastal Christian's administration has held a series of meetings with teachers and parents to determine if any abuse occurred at that private Mount Pleasant school. School officials told WCBD-TV that so far they didn't believe anything improper had occurred there. His arrest warrant alleges he abused the young men at his home or in vehicles while on the road.

At Bishop England, the school's administrators say students know counseling is available, but so far they have not heard from police about any victims enrolled there, said Maria Aselage, Diocese of Charleston spokeswoman.

"The Diocese is unaware of any victims who are or were enrolled at Bishop England High School," Aselage said in an e-mail. "Bishop England High School employs full time guidance counselors who are available to students to discuss the arrest and investigation of Mr. ReVille or any issue they may have."

Mount Pleasant already planned routine sex-abuse awareness training prior to ReVille's Friday arrest, but now the courses will have added meaning, Ayoub said.

"It's hard to trust people now," Ayoub said. "We do this (recreation work) solely to benefit and enrich these kids' lives, and then you find out someone could have been hurting them. It just makes you look at everyone with suspicion."

Police have not said where ReVille met his alleged victims, and Ayoub said he didn't believe they were recreation department youngsters.

That distrust will subside, Ayoub said, and this arrest will just make him and his staff more vigilant about spotting suspicious or improper contact.

But there is guilt, he said, that no one spotted warning signs and stopped ReVille. On top of that, there is grief for ReVille's family. He and his wife brought newborn triplets home from the hospital just weeks before his arrest.

"Those kids are victims, too," Ayoub said. "Everyone should look up to their dad. I know I did. I can't imagine growing up with that."