Ex-York County, SC police officer sentenced after guilty verdict for child sex crimes
A former police officer in York County was sentenced to 30 years in a South Carolina prison late Wednesday after a jury found him guilty on child sex charges.
Charles “Chuck” Eugene Price, 50, was found guilty of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor and another sex-related charge, according to prosecutors and court records. The Herald is not identifying one of those charges to protect the victim’s identity.
S.C. Circuit Court Judge Craig Brown of Florence sentenced Price to the maximum of 30 years allowed under state law after a two-day trial. Jurors deliberated most of Wednesday afternoon before returning the guilty verdicts around 6 p.m.
Price was fired in October 2020 from his job as a sergeant in the police department at Winthrop University in Rock Hill when State Law Enforcement Division agents arrested him. Price worked previously as a police officer for the towns of Fort Mill and Clover.
Wednesday’s conviction represents just some of the more than 50 sex-related charges the former officer faces that go back more than a decade.
Price’s lawyer, Benjamin Hasty of the David W. Martin Law Group, said his client denies all of the allegations. Price intends to appeal the guilty verdict and sentence, Hasty said after court.
Prosecutors: Victim is ‘courageous’
During the trial, prosecutors Sharon Ohayon and Chris Epting of the 16th Circuit Solicitor’s Office presented DNA evidence they argued proved the charges against Price.
After court, Ohayon and Epting said the victim’s bravery to report the crimes led to the investigation, arrest and successful prosecution.
“We are thankful for victims who are courageous enough to come forward and maintain faith in the justice system despite the sometimes lengthy process, for the diligent work by SLED Agents Jake Drake and Melissa Wallace — without which we could not prove our cases, and especially to the jurors who took time out of their lives to help us get the justice these victims deserve,” Ohayon and Epting said. “We hope this verdict will help the victims find closure and start the healing process.”
Still, dozens of charges against Price that allege sexual assaults and crimes involving children remain pending, prosecutors said.
It remains unclear when prosecutors will schedule the remaining cases for trial.
After the investigation began in 2020, Price was arrested and has been jailed without bail ever since.
