Former fire chief charged with sex crimes and stealing thousands, SC cops say
The former head of a volunteer fire department has been charged with multiple sex crimes as well as stealing more than $10,000 of public money, according to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.
On Monday, 49-year-old Blacksburg resident Joshua Perrin Parker was charged with embezzlement of public funds (value $10,000 or more) and two counts of voyeurism, SLED said in a news release.
Parker previously served as chief of the Buffalo (South Carolina) volunteer fire department, according to the release.
While in that capacity, Parker is accused of committing the voyeurism crimes from 2019 through 2022, according to arrest warrants.
“Parker did knowingly and for the purpose of arousing or gratifying sexual desire, view, photograph, video record, audio record, film or otherwise create a digital electronic file of the victim ... without (their) knowledge and consent,” arrest warrants said.
Further information about the voyeurism crimes, and if Parker had any other connection to the victims, was not available.
Parker is also accused of embezzling more than $10,000 during his time as Buffalo Fire Chief, and that crime occurred from January 2021 and December 2025, an arrest warrant shows.
There was no word about how much public money was entrusted to Parker, as Buffalo’s fire chief, was stolen. But Parker did take the money for his own use, according to an arrest warrant.
Information about what Parker did with the stolen money, and if he spent it all, was not available.
Parker was booked into the Cherokee County Detention Center, SLED said in the release. Bond was set at $60,000 on the combined charges and posted the same day he was arrested, Cherokee County court records show.
The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office asked SLED to lead an investigation into Parker, who will be prosecuted by the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office.
If convicted on the felony embezzlement charge Parker faces a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison and a fine, according to South Carolina law. Convictions on the misdemeanor voyeurism charges could result in 3-year prison sentences and $500 fines for each count, according to South Carolina law.
SLED called Parker the former fire chief, but there was no word about if he was fired or resigned, and when he lost that job.
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This story was originally published June 3, 2026 at 10:59 AM with the headline "Former fire chief charged with sex crimes and stealing thousands, SC cops say."
