South Carolina's state police agency has charged a former Camden Military Academy dean of students with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old during two incidents in Myrtle Beach back in 2014 — the third time in roughly two years that the 55-year-old has faced child sex crime allegations. John Anthony Heflin was booked Oct. 29 on charges of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor under 16 and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to a press release from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.
The warrants allege that Heflin, who was teaching at the military boarding school at the time, sexually battered the teen during two separate incidents in July 2014 and provided the 14-year-old with beer and liquor during the same period, according to WACH. Heflin would have been 43 years old at the time of the alleged crimes. The victim, now an adult, came forward to SLED agents as part of the investigation, WIS-TV reported.
SLED said its investigation was requested by the Kershaw County Sheriff's Office, as reported by WBTW. Heflin was booked into the J. Reuben Long Detention Center in Conway, Horry County, and online jail records show he was released later that day on $20,000 bail across both charges. The case will be prosecuted by the 15th Circuit Solicitor's Office, per the same station's reporting.
A Pattern of Allegations Stretching Back Years
This is not the first time Heflin has faced accusations of this nature. In September 2024, SLED arrested him in Kershaw County on a charge of criminal solicitation of a minor; he was no longer employed at Camden Military Academy by that point and was released on bond, according to reporting detailed in the dossier's original article facts. A Camden Military Academy cadet told investigators Heflin had engaged in sexually explicit conversations with him beginning in 2022 and that Heflin had requested a sexually explicit photo of the boy, according to The State.
Then in July 2025, Heflin was arrested again in Kershaw County on charges involving the alleged sexual assault of two cadets connected to incidents in 2014 and 2022. One of the victims named in that case was an adult at the time of the arrest, while another was reportedly a minor. SLED officials have not confirmed whether the newest October 2026 charges are connected to either of Heflin's prior arrests or to separate civil lawsuits filed against him.
Civil Lawsuits Raised Similar Claims
Beyond the criminal cases, Heflin has been named in two separate lawsuits alleging further misconduct with students. A 2017 lawsuit accused him of sending a former Camden Military Academy cadet sexually explicit messages beginning in the fall of 2016, when Heflin was dean of students; that case was settled out of court in 2018 under confidential terms, according to The Post and Courier.
A second lawsuit, filed in February 2025, accused Heflin of beginning an inappropriate relationship with a student in spring 2015 that continued after the student left school, including allegations that he engaged in sexual conduct with the student, sent sexually explicit messages, provided alcohol, invited the student to stay at his off-campus residence, and transported the student to Myrtle Beach. That suit also alleged that school leadership covered up Heflin's conduct, according to the same Post and Courier reporting. These remain allegations made in civil litigation rather than findings established in the supplied record.
A Local Political Role Alongside the Charges
At the time of his first two arrests, Heflin was a long-serving member of the Bethune Town Council. Gov. Henry McMaster suspended him from the council following his second arrest, which occurred in July 2025, though under South Carolina law a suspended council member retains the position until resignation or the end of their term — in Heflin's case, expected to run through 2027. Town meeting minutes from September 2026 indicated Heflin remained an active council member, though absent from meetings; town officials have not confirmed his current position status.
Neither Heflin nor attorneys representing him or the alleged victims responded to requests for comment ahead of publication, according to the original reporting from The Post and Courier. Camden Military Academy is a military boarding school in Camden serving boys in grades 7 through 12. As of early November 2026, Heflin was not listed as an inmate at the Kershaw County Detention Center, and jail officials there have not confirmed when he was released or transported.
