Former Chester SC judge charged with sending and possessing child sex pictures
A South Carolina town judge in Chester County who formerly served as chief deputy in Lancaster County is charged with sending and having sexual pictures of a child on his phone, officials said.
Johnny Ray Steele, 75, of Lancaster, was charged Wednesday with one count of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, and two counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, according to arrest warrants from the State Law Enforcement Division obtained by The Herald.
Steele was town judge in Fort Lawn, in Chester County, SLED officials said. Steele advised Fort Lawn officials Wednesday after his arrest that he resigned from his judicial post, said Brian Grier, Fort Lawn town attorney.
Steele also had been veterans court judge for Lancaster and Chester counties until Wednesday, said 6th Circuit Solicitor Randy Newman. The solicitor’s office administers the court for military veterans in the two counties, Newman said.
Steele could face as much as 30 years in prison if convicted of the three charges, under South Carolina law.
Judge was former Lancaster chief deputy
Steele was formerly a deputy at the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office who rose to the rank of chief deputy, second in command in the sheriff’’s office, said Doug Barfield, spokesman for the sheriff’s office.
Steele was chief deputy under former sheriff Johnny Cauthen but was not a deputy during the administration of current Lancaster County Sheriff Barry Faile, Barfield said.
SLED officials said the agency was asked to investigate the allegations about the pictures by the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office.
The charges against the judge
According to SLED and the arrest warrants, Steele used a phone in August to text a sexually explicit picture of a minor to his personal phone.
Steele also is accused of having 15 sexually explicit photos on his phone in July, according to the warrants.
Second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor is defined under South Carolina law as someone who “distributes, transports, exhibits, receives, sells, purchases, exchanges or solicits material that contains a visual representation of a minor engaged in sexual activity or appearing in a state of sexually explicit nudity when a reasonable person would infer the purpose is sexual stimulation.”
Third-degree sexual exploitation is defined as possession of illegal material involving child sexual activity, state law shows.
The charges are felonies that carry a potential punishment up to 10 years in prison for each offense, South Carolina law states.
Steele was released from the Lancaster County jail after posting $15,000 bail, Barfield said.
State prosecutors with the S.C. Attorney General’s Office, not 6th Circuit prosecutors who normally handle most criminal cases in Lancaster and Chester counties, are handling prosecution of Steele.
What happens now?
Municipalities and towns can hire people to be judges for low level criminal and civil cases, according to the S.C. Courts Web site. Town judges typically handle traffic offenses and similar matters.
The Town of Fort Lawn has not yet released any information on how the town will handle court. Efforts to reach Fort Lawn officials Thursday were unsuccessful.
