A former South Carolina prosecutor who once served three terms as the elected solicitor for the Fourth Judicial Circuit was working as a juvenile public defender in the very counties he used to prosecute cases for, even as multiple lawsuits accusing him of molesting eight boys decades ago sat unresolved in civil court. Now, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division has opened a new investigation concerning a photograph discovered in Hodge's law firm.
Hodge spent three terms as the elected prosecutor for the Fourth Judicial Circuit, which covers Darlington, Dillon, Chesterfield and Marlboro counties, according to reporting from Queen City News. Years after leaving that post, he resurfaced inside the Fourth Circuit Public Defender's Office, this time representing juveniles in the same courthouses where he once stood as the prosecutor. A tipster first alerted the reporter in 2023 that Hodge was working as a juvenile public defender for that office.
Multiple lawsuits accusing Hodge of sexually molesting eight boys during the 1980s and 1990s were still pending in Chesterfield County Common Pleas Court, the outlet's reporting found. Those suits identify the alleged victims only by the pseudonyms Youth Male A through H. In 2012, eight men came forward publicly accusing Hodge of molesting them as children — allegations Hodge has denied for years, including in a 2012 statement in which he called any claim of inappropriate contact with a child “absolutely false,” according to the same report.
A Tip, a Stakeout and a Photograph
To check the tip, the reporter spent 2023 watching courthouses across the Fourth Judicial Circuit on days when the Department of Juvenile Justice brought young people charged with crimes before a family court judge. On multiple occasions, the reporter saw Hodge arrive and walk into those hearings. In 2024, a source supplied photographic evidence showing Hodge handling a juvenile justice hearing the reporter had not been able to observe directly, the outlet reported.
Depositions in the broader litigation also revealed a photograph discovered years earlier inside Hodge's law firm, one that is now the subject of the new SLED investigation, per the same reporting. After Queen City News began asking questions, Hodge's role within the public defender's office started changing, the outlet reported — though the dossier of supplied evidence does not establish his current employment status, title, caseload or duties beyond what that report describes.
Allegations Stretch Back to His Scouting Days
The accusations against Hodge predate his time as a prosecutor by years. A September 5, 2012, report from the Post and Courier described a lawsuit filed by two brothers alleging Hodge sexually abused them while serving as their Boy Scout troop leader in the 1970s. In 2012, brothers Kenny and Rodney Michael filed a separate lawsuit accusing Hodge of molesting them nearly 35 years earlier while he was their Scout leader, according to WIS-TV. A 2016 report from FITSNews detailed yet another lawsuit alleging abuse occurred during an overnight white-water rafting trip on the Nantahala River held under the Boy Scouts of America, with claims including sexual battery, child sexual abuse, reckless misconduct and fraud. A separate 2012 account preserved by bishop-accountability.org alleged that Hodge and a now-deceased former Scout leader, William C. Hebard, engaged in sexual acts with two unnamed plaintiffs between 1975 and 1980.
SLED's Involvement Marks a Shift From 2012
Law enforcement's posture toward the allegations appears to have changed significantly since they first surfaced publicly. Back in 2012, WIS-TV reported that the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division had not yet decided whether to open a criminal investigation, noting at the time, “For now, that decision has not been made.” More than a decade later, SLED has opened an investigation concerning a photograph discovered in Hodge's law firm, according to Queen City News.
Public Defender's Office Now Hiring in Chesterfield County
Separately from the allegations against Hodge, the Fourth Circuit Public Defender's Office has posted an opening for a full-time assistant public defender in its Chesterfield County office, with an application deadline of November 30, 2026, at 5 p.m., according to a listing on scacdl.org. South Carolina's Children's Code, as published by the state legislature, outlines how courts can order parents who can afford counsel for a child but refuse to retain it to reimburse the Indigent Defense Fund or pay the court-appointed attorney in an amount the court determines.
The state's indigent defense system also operates under performance standards adopted by the South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense, which took effect July 1, 2013, for both non-capital cases and juvenile indigent defense representation, according to a commission document. Those standards govern the baseline expectations for attorneys representing young clients in family court across circuits like the Fourth, the same system in which Hodge was reported to be working as a juvenile defender years after leaving the solicitor's office.
