Two DSS case managers charged with abandoning a juvenile in their care in Spartanburg

Two Department of Social Services case managers have been charged after allegedly abandoning a juvenile in their care at a gas station in Spartanburg County, according to a release from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division sent Tuesday afternoon.

Michelle Lorraine Holmes, 42, was charged with unlawfully causing or placing a child at risk of harm or willfully abandoning the child while, Marcus Antonio Hutchins, 26, was charged with criminal conspiracy. Both charges are felonies.

According to warrants provided by SLED, the charges stem from an incident on March 6 where Holmes and Hutchins allegedly left a juvenile male at the Valero gas station on 9075 Fairforest Road in Spartanburg County. The two case managers then returned to DSS offices and told their supervisor the juvenile had wandered away from them at the gas station.

According to the arrest affidavits, Hutchins escorted the juvenile inside the gas station. When the juvenile went to the restroom, Hutchins left the store and returned to the vehicle and drove with Holmes to Spartanburg County DSS office located on Chesnee Highway.

The juvenile was previously placed in the care of DSS by the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office, and Holmes was the juvenile's case manager at the time of the incident, according to the affidavits. The juvenile had a limited knowledge of the English language and is a foreign national with no family in South Carolina.

Both Holmes and Hutchins posted $5,000 surety bonds on the condition they had no contact with the victim, according to public court records. Both have a first appearance in court scheduled for Oct. 26.

Chalmers Rogland covers public safety for the Spartanburg Herald-Journal and USA Today Network. Reach him via email at crogland@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: Two DSS case managers charged with abandoning a juvenile in Spartanburg