A state judge on Tuesday put a former Richland County sheriff’s deputy on the state’s sex offender list after the deputy pleaded guilty to charges relating to preying on teen females at Spring Valley High School.
Judge Daniel Coble could have given former deputy Jamel Bradley, a former University of South Carolina basketball player, up to 15 years in prison.
“This is a tragedy of trust that you alone created,” Coble told Bradley, 45, who stood next to his lawyer, Lester “Gill” Bell, to hear the sentence.
Facts in the case indicated Bradley, an easy-going, popular and athletic school resource officer, had little trouble gaining access to students and accosting them sexually, whether in his patrol car or in his office at school.
The charges to which he pleaded guilty — sexual battery with a student, 16 or 17 years of age, and assault and battery of the first degree — involved two different students. In both cases, he had longstanding relationships with the students.
But Coble opted for no prison, giving Bradley a suspended sentence of five years and probation. Coble did not explain his reasoning, but statements during the hearing indicated the ex-deputy will be punished in other ways — having a difficult time getting a job and, except for his own young children, won’t be able to be around children for the rest of his life.
Bradley, 45, was a sheriff’s department school resource officer. His actions have been the subject of several lawsuits against the department and local media coverage of his initial arrest in 2019 by the sheriff’s department. Lawsuits have questioned whether Sheriff Leon Lott and his department covered up — through negligence or deliberately — warnings about Bradley’s conduct before his initial arrest.
On Monday, an in-depth story by The Washington Post raised questions about Bradley and oversight of school resource officers in Richland County and around the nation.
The Post article said, “Richland County officials dismissed or failed to thoroughly investigate complaints of sexual misconduct against Bradley, according to a review of hundreds of documents obtained through public records requests, court filings and interviews with students, parents, educators, law enforcement officials and others.”
Sheriff Lott was not in the courtroom Tuesday and was not available for comment. His office was said to be releasing a statement soon.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
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