Judge to decide whether charges will be dropped against Sunday School teacher

By Traci Washington
Live5News
August 18, 2015

http://www.live5news.com/story/29805826/judge-to-decide-whether-charges-will-be-dropped-against-sunday-school-teacher

Joel Iacopelli

PORT ROYAL, SC (WTOC) -

A judge in the Lowcountry will soon decide if the sexual assault charges filed against a Sunday School teacher will be dropped, or if the case will head to a grand jury.

A four-year-old accused 41-year-Joel Iacopelli of sexually assaulting her at the Community Bible Church, back in June.

In a preliminary hearing last week, investigators told a judge the four-year-old victim changed her story about what happened. She initially told her mother and investigators that Iacopelli sexually assaulted her in a Sunday school classroom, when the female teacher left the room to take other children to the restroom. She later told someone that she made the story up. 

Iacopelli’s attorney, Jared Newman, told the judge the video evidence from the church disputes parts of the mothers and the four-year-olds’ story. Now, they are hopeful the judge would drop all the charges.

"We believe the investigation was incomplete. They got an arrest warrant based on an allegation without any investigations. They made the arrest, now they're starting to investigate; now they're starting to find out the things they've been told aren't true," Newman said. He also said the judge has about two to three hours of video evidence to review.

A study done by the Leadership Council on Child Abuse says it is common for children to recant their stories, for a variety of reasons. They may have feelings of disloyalty from the people around them. The child could be concerned for the well-being of the alleged suspect.

Experts say many children believe taking back their story would change things back to the way they were, before anyone found out. Or, the story could be completely made-up.

According to the Leadership Council, cases where children lie about being sexually abused are rare. Experts say it is important for police to continue investigating, even if a child recants their story. 

The judge is expected to make his decision sometime this week. The solicitor’s office and the Port Royal Police Department have declined to comment on the ongoing investigation.