Convicted Columbia child molester will not go free, jury decides

Serial child molester Charles “Chuck” Sullivan will be confined in a specialized state mental health treatment facility – not freed to live and go where he pleases, a unanimous jury decided Thursday.

It took the seven-woman, five-man jury an hour and 15 minutes to agree that Sullivan, after 18 years behind bars, had not reformed his behavior enough to live in his sisters’ Columbia area homes and renew a romance he said he had with a longtime fiancee.

Sullivan’s attorney, James Falk, got permission from Judge Tanya Gee to poll the jury to verify the verdict. One by one, each juror replied in firm tones that permitted no doubt: “Yes.”

Parents and friends of Sullivan’s numerous victims had been in court since Monday. After the verdict, they were relieved.

“None of us were in this for revenge, but we needed the right thing to happen so no other families will have our nightmare and pain in the future. And the right thing was done – this had to stop,” said one parent whose son was victimized by Sullivan. The State newspaper generally does not identify victims of sex crimes or their immediate relatives.

Minutes after the jury finding, Judge Gee signed a one-page commitment order sending Sullivan to a secure S.C. Department of Mental Health facility on the grounds of a Broad River Road state prison complex “for his long-term control, care and treatment.”

Falk said it’s likely Sullivan, now 60, will appeal.

Earlier Thursday, Sullivan took the witness stand at his civil commitment hearing in the Richland County courthouse to explain that he had found Jesus and gotten psychological help that helped him recognize and control his aberrant behavior.

Saying he would not molest young boys again, Sullivan told the jury how part of his counseling sessions had given him the empathy to understand the mental anguish he inflicted on his victims.

“I had a twisted way of thinking that was going on back then – it’s not going on now, I promise,” Sullivan testified.

“There’s no excuse for what I did,” Sullivan said during nearly three hours on the stand.

Lacing his testimony with psychological terms such as “blame-shifting” and “victim deficit empathy” and quotes from scripture, Sullivan told the jury how numerous classes and prison counseling sessions gave him “a new set of eyes.”

Now, he said, he can recognize and deal with the spiritual and psychological failings that led him to be one of the most notorious child molesters in recent state history.

“From a growth standpoint, those years in prison were the best years of my life,” Sullivan testified.

Appearing to choke back tears, he praised the first few boys who had alerted law enforcement to his molestation.“If it weren’t for their courage in coming forward, I would still be doing the same crap.”

In cross-examining Sullivan, assistant S.C. attorney general Chris “Cam” Morrow showed no sympathy. Grilling Sullivan on thanking the boys who turned him in, Morrow said, “The truth is, you stopped because you went to prison. There aren’t any little boys in prison.”

Morrow repeatedly described Sullivan as a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” who preyed upon parents and children who, in their innocence, could not begin to imagine the sophisticated techniques pedophiles like Sullivan use.

“He is the most dangerous type of predator – the one you don’t suspect,” Morrow told the jury.

A key witness for Morrow, Marie Gehle, a psychologist with the state mental health agency, conducts extensive examinations of sexual offenders. Gehle testified Tuesday that she often recommends release. But in Sullivan’s case, she advised against setting him free.

Sullivan, according to authorities, molested at least 40 Columbia area young boys from 1978 to 1997, by gaining the confidence of their parents so he could win their trust to mentor their children. Instead, he slowly groomed the children during sleepovers and outings, giving them alcohol, cigarettes, pot and pornography, according to evidence in his case. Often, he molested boys after they were intoxicated or asleep, according to evidence.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Sullivan cultivated an image of a self-confident, well-spoken religious person – an image that won him positions of trust with the 5th Circuit Solicitor’s office, the Attorney General’s office, the Carolina Children’s Home, Cardinal Newman school and various youth sports teams.

Although Sullivan served 17 years in prison and one year in the Richland County jail, state law allows for the S.C. Attorney General’s office to bring him before a jury for long-term mental incarceration.

In his testimony Thursday, Sullivan also apologized to his victims’ parents. He promised that if released, he has plans to seek support and treatment for any illegal molestation urges he might have.

“I would be a fool to think that there is not the potential to re-offend,” he said. “The issue is, can you control it.”

This story was originally published July 29, 2016 at 7:46 AM with the headline "Convicted Columbia child molester will not go free, jury decides."