A former Lexington County worship pastor stood before a federal judge Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to charges accusing him of producing and distributing child sexual abuse material, the latest turn in a case that began with a state arrest back in March. Richard Channing Shealy, 54, waived his right to a preliminary hearing during the arraignment and now awaits further proceedings with no additional federal court dates currently scheduled.
According to WIS News 10, Shealy appeared alongside his attorneys for the arraignment, entered his not guilty plea, and waived the preliminary hearing in federal court. The federal indictment against him includes allegations dating back to 2004, with prosecutors accusing Shealy of coercing a single underage victim into photographed sexually explicit conduct on four separate occasions between 2004 and 2006, and of taking photos documenting each alleged instance, the station reports.
The U.S. Department of Justice, through the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of South Carolina, says a federal grand jury in Columbia returned a nine-count indictment against Shealy for producing, distributing and possessing child sexual abuse material. These remain charges, not findings of guilt, and Shealy has formally contested them.
A Case That Started With a March Arrest
Shealy's legal troubles trace back to March 26, when he was first arrested on 13 state counts ranging from second-degree to third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, the station's earlier report notes. He was released from jail the following day after posting a $150,000 bond. But the case did not end there.
Court documents cited by WIS allege that prosecutors found Shealy had possessed material involving a prepubescent minor through late March, and that he was found with additional child sexual abuse material involving a prepubescent minor the following month, in April. Warrants reviewed by the station also allege that Shealy shared files containing child sexual abuse material over the internet three times in February, distributing illicit images to another user through the eDonkey peer-to-peer file-sharing network, according to prosecutors. A search also turned up 10 additional files containing child sexual abuse material, per the warrants.
Second Arrest Brought Denial of Bond
On May 1, Shealy was arrested again and charged with 20 additional counts after evidence was uncovered during a search of his home, the same report states. This time, he was booked back into jail and denied bond. Those additional counts stem from alleged incidents between 2004 and 2006 involving victims ages five to eight, according to the warrants.
The case has since moved from Lexington County courts into the federal system. The Lexington County Chronicle reports that the state attorney general's office said it intended to dismiss all of Shealy's state charges once he appeared in U.S. District Court, under an agreement with federal prosecutors.
Sources differ on the exact date of the federal indictment. The Chronicle and other outlets report the grand jury indicted Shealy on Oct. 21, while WIS News 10's reporting on the arraignment places the indictment on Oct. 28. That discrepancy has not been resolved in available court records.
Background as a Worship Musician
Before his arrests, Shealy worked as a worship musician in the Midlands and previously served as a worship pastor at Lexington-area churches. The Post and Courier reports that, according to his former website, he served as an interim worship pastor at both Lexington Baptist Church and River District Church in recent years. He also hosted a website accepting bookings for worship-musician gigs, but that site has since been taken down.
As of Wednesday, no further federal court dates had been scheduled in Shealy's case, according to WIS News 10's report. The case remains pending as prosecutors and Shealy's defense team prepare for the next phase of federal proceedings.
