Former performing arts ministry volunteer charged with fondling child, Rock Hill cops say
A former volunteer at a Rock Hill performing arts ministry has been charged with fondling a child at ministry events, police said.
Joshua Timothy Hale, 33, of Rock Hill, was arrested Thursday morning on three counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor, said Lt. Michael Chavis of the Rock Hill Police Department.
The alleged incidents took place in 2018 and 2019 while Hale was involved with the ministry, Chavis said. Hale is accused of fondling a minor outside the minor’s clothes, according to arrest warrants in the case.
“The suspect was a leader who had access to the child through the ministry,” Chavis said.
Hale is no longer affiliated with the ministry, Chavis said.
The arrest was made after months of investigation, after the allegations were reported to Rock Hill police in July 2020, according to Chavis.
A Rock Hill police incident report in the case from July 2020 stated the assaults happened when the group was at performance events.
The Herald is not naming the ministry to protect the identity of the victim.
Sex crime against child is a felony in SC
The charges are felonies, state law shows. South Carolina law defines third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor as when someone who “willfully and lewdly commits or attempts to commit a lewd or lascivious act upon or with the body, or its parts, of a child under sixteen years of age, with the intent of arousing, appealing to, or gratifying the lust, passions, or sexual desires of the actor or the child.”
A conviction for third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison for each charge, state law shows.
Hale was denied bond in a court hearing Thursday afternoon by a Rock Hill Municipal Court judge, according to police and court records.
Hale will be transferred to the York County jail pending trial.
This story was originally published May 6, 2021 at 12:13 PM.
