Third Scout Joins Cheraw Sexual Abuse Case

By Ellen Meder
Scnow
September 10, 2012

http://www2.scnow.com/news/pee-dee/2012/sep/10/third-scout-joins-sexual-abuse-case-ar-4519998/

Former Fourth Circuit Solicitor Jay Hodge

CHERAW — A third former Boy Scout has joined the civil lawsuit accusing former 4th Circuit Solicitor Jay Hodge and another man of sexually abusing them while they served as scoutmasters, the lawyer for the plaintiffs said Monday.

Attorney Trey Cockrell of Cockrell Law Firm in Chesterfield, who filed the suit on behalf of the plaintiffs two weeks ago, said the new alleged victim came forward after reading newspaper accounts and online accounts of the case this week. He currently lives in Horry County, but grew up in Cheraw.

The man, identified in court papers filed Friday as "Youth Male C," is now 36 years old. That's about 10 years younger than "Youth Male A," or "Youth Male B." The original defendants are brothers who recalled abuse by Hodge and William C. Hebard at separate times while they two men worked with scouts in Troop 663, sponsored by First Prebyterian Church of Cheraw. Those alleged acts took place between 1975-80. The new defendant said he was abused at Hodge's house when he was 10 years old. That would suggest an incident occuring in 1986.

Hodge, who retired as solicitor in 2008 and still practices law in Chesterfield County, vehemently denied the original charges, calling them "lies" and suggesting they were part of a personal vendetta by one or both of the original plaintiffs. Hodge is currently involved in a lawsuit with one of the men.

The third plaintiff said he only has memories of abuse by Hodge, who succeeded Hebard as scoutmaster of Troop 663, though not directly. Hebard passed away in 2007.

Current Fourth Circuit Solicitor Will Rogers, who followed Hodge into office, said last week that he has submitted a file on the case to the South Carolina Attorney General's office and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) for possible investigation into criminal charges.

The original civil suit, filed in Chesterfield County Court, alleges that Hodge and Hebard engaged in various sexual acts with two unnamed plaintiffs, between 1975 and 1980. Cockrell filed a motion for confidentiality, and use the aforementioned "Youth Male" nomenclature to describe them, but exhibit accompanying the case, and which is part of the public record, contained the plaintiffs' names. They were legible, although an attempt had been made to redact them.

The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages to cover the ongoing "pain and suffering, physical and emotional trauma, and permanent psychological damage" as well as the cost of the psychiatric and psychological treatment both plaintiffs require. The suit alleges that all of the defendants are responsible for sexual battery of a child, negligence, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, willful misconduct and intentional inflection of emotional distress.

Besides Hodge and the estate of Hebard, First Prebyterian Church, The Boy Scouts of America and the Pee Dee Scout Council are all named as defendants.