At Nine Reville Victims, Attorney Says Far More May Exist, by Adam Crisp and Greg Hambrick, The Patch, November 20, 2011

At Nine Reville Victims, Attorney Says Far More May Exist

By Adam Crisp and Greg Hambrick
The Patch
November 20, 2011

http://goosecreek.patch.com/articles/at-nine-reville-victims-attorney-says-far-more-may-exist

Louis "Skip" ReVille is accused of molesting boys at his Lohr Drive home (left) and there was a 2007 allegation of illicit sexual contact at the Citadel (right). Credit Adam Crisp

A total nine victims have come forward with sex-abuse charges against former private school administrator and youth-sports fixture Louis "Skip" ReVille, authorities confirmed on Friday.

But according to one attorney close to the case, far more victims have come forward with allegations, but have not yet reported the claims to police.

On Friday, Hanahan Police reported detectives there had completed its part of the sex abuse investigation, said Lt. Michael Fowler. The department expects to have four charges against ReVille. It had been investigating six instances, but could not move forward on two of the allegations, he said.

Fowler said any further information on the charges will be released by the Solicitor's Office, which is coordinating cases from several local jurisdictions.

Mount Pleasant police in late October charged ReVille with performing sex acts on three teenage boys. A week after the arrest, Mount Pleasant police came back with more charges, saying two more boys had reported sexual contact with ReVille.

But one attorney, who says he represents several of ReVille's alleged victims, believes far more victims will come forward.

"I would be surprised if the number is below 20 when all is said and done," said lawyer Gregg Meyers, who also brought civil actions during the infamous Porter-Gaude sex-abuse case in the 1990s. "It would be a pleasant surprise, obviously, if there are fewer victims, but I doubt that's the case."

Meyers, who is based in Charleston but works with the Minnesota-based firm of Jeff Anderson and Associates, said at least five children have retained civil representation since ReVille's arrest.

Last week, attorney Mullins McLeod held a press conference where he slammed the Citadel for not reporting ReVille to police after a former summer camp student in 2007 said ReVille held masturbation sessions with teenage boys.

The teenage victim reported the incident five years after the fact, but records indicate the school sought only to negotiate a settlement with the alleged victims and did not report the incident to police.

"The adults in this case did not do what they were supposed to," Meyers said. "The boys in the case did what they were supposed to, but the adults did not."

Citadel President Lt. Gen. John Rosa admitted the school should have reported the incident to police during a Monday press conference.

The Citadel has exposed itself to a huge civil liability, Meyers said.

"They knew in 2007 that (ReVille) was crossing boundaries," Meyers said. "How do you hear those allegations and not wonder if he's victimized more people? How do you not try to get in the way of him victimizing more people?"

But the public military college and its administrators aren't the only parties that allowed ReVille to find and abuse victims.

The dozens of schools, churches, gyms and athletic programs that had ReVille as a volunteer or employee could all be liable, Meyers said, if they didn't have proper rules to prevent abusers from preying on children.

"I've not run across a situation … where a molester abuses a child in front of someone," Meyers said. "They have to have the opportunity."

At some point, ReVille, and other abusers, remove kids from their normal setting and into a place where they can be victimized, Meyers said. Police allege ReVille abused his victims in his car or at the Mount Pleasant home he shared with his wife.

"If you're doing everything you should to protect children, there won't be those opportunities," Meyers said. "If you are in a business where children are your customers, you just have to assume that at some point you are going to run across a person like this. You should take precautions."

Of all the victims Meyers and other attorneys have spoken with, none had contact with ReVille prior to the 2007 Citadel allegations, he said.

"If the Citadel would have done the right thing back then, this would have all been avoided," Meyers said. "None of them would have had contact with ReVille if he would have been stopped in 2007."