Disgraced Horry cop admits he didn’t investigate 88 cases. His sentence? A $300 fine.
A former Horry County police detective admitted to not investigating dozens of cases, including sexual assaults, will have to pay a fine as punishment.
Darryl Williams pleaded guilty Thursday to a misdemeanor count of misconduct while in office. He entered his plea during a hearing in Horry County court. Judge Williams Seals ordered Williams to pay a $300 fine as punishment for his plea, which is in line with the sentence for a fellow disgraced cop who also pleaded guilty.
The plea ends a four-year scandal that rocked Horry County police with allegations of not investigating hundreds of cases, sexual assaults by officers and forcing some women into “nude catfighting videos.”
Four officers were charged in the scandal—Williams, Todd Cox, Allen Large and Luke Green—and all received little punishment. Large died before his case could be decided.
Williams’ plea
Williams was indicted in 2016 and initially faced several felony counts of misconduct in office, but pleaded to a lone misdemeanor count. He spoke during his hearing only to answer the judge’s questions.
Heather Weiss, a prosecutor from the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office, said the plea involved a case where Williams distorted facts about how he investigated a rape case.
“This led to a more thorough inspection that discovered 88 cases improperly investigated,” Weiss aid.
The 88 cases were re-investigated by authorities, Weiss said.
Defense attorney Laura Hiller said they disagreed with some of the details outlined by Weiss, but admitted there were enough facts to support the charge.
Williams served in the army before he went to the police academy, Hiller said. He served in Horry County police for a decade before the investigation. He has no criminal history before the misconduct charges.
“After this investigation, he was not fired, but he did choose to leave Horry County,” Hiller said.
Williams moved to Atlanta and drives commercial trucks, Hiller said. He is also taking care of an ill mother. She asked for a fine similar to some of the other defendants in the case.
Hiller declined to comment after the hearing.
Scandal leads to changes
Two of the other defendants previously took plea deals to avoid trials. Cox was also given a $300 fine. Green completed a pretrial intervention program and had his case expunged.
Large died in 2018 in his Murrells Inlet home as he awaited trial.
The scandal led to several changes at the Horry County Police Department.
Then-Chief Saundra Rhodes oversaw Horry County police while the four officers worked in the department. She abruptly announced her retirement, saying she wanted to spend more time with her family, in April 2016.
Current Chief Joe Hill started in September 2016, about the same time indictments were handed down against Cox, Green, Large and Williams.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division investigated the cases against the four officers. The unit uncovered allegations of Large coercing women for sex and inappropriate relationships with victims. Large also discussed participating in nude catfighting videos with some of the victims he was supposed to be helping. Some of the women later filed civil lawsuits against Horry County and Large.
This story was originally published October 16, 2020 at 11:02 AM.
