Georgetown man will spend life in prison after filming sex with young child
A Georgetown man admitted to sexually assaulting a 6-year-old child and recording it with his cellphone.
Brandon O’Neal Coakley, 32, plead guilty to first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor and second-degree domestic violence, according to Alicia Richardson, the deputy solicitor who prosecuted the case for the 15th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
In November 2018, the child’s mother discovered the video-recorded assault on Coakley’s cellphone. The video depicted an assault that occurred earlier that day when the child’s mother was at work.
The mother confronted Coakley, and he assaulted her in front of her children to try and prevent her from reporting the assault, according to the solicitor’s office. The mother was able to escape with the children and the cellphone, and called the Georgetown Police Department to report the abuse.
Officers began an investigation, including arranging medical examinations, crime scene processing, DNA collection, and a forensic evaluation of the cellphone. Coakley was arrested three days later in Horry County after an anonymous tip led police to his location.
Coakley was previously convicted of burglary, armed robbery and attempted burglary as well as a parole violation, authorities said.
He pleaded guilty before his scheduled jury trial was to begin. This week is the first week jury trials in Georgetown County have resumed since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March.
Coakley will serve life in prison for the sexual assault and three years for the domestic violence charge. The sentences will run concurrently, the news release said.
