Man who molested Lowcountry children might only serve half of 25-year prison sentence

One of Beaufort County’s most notorious sex offenders was released from prison Friday and sent straight to the Beaufort County jail after serving a little more than half of his 25-year sentence.

Philip Underwood-Sheppard pleaded guilty in 2003 to molesting nine young boys while he was a teacher in the Beaufort County School District. His crimes not only shocked the community and damaged young lives and their families, but the ensuing lawsuits cost the school district millions of dollars.

There’s one chance that Underwood-Sheppard won’t be set free. A little known civil-commitment process could send him to a locked mental health ward in a Columbia prison where the state’s sexually violent predators are treated.

Underwood-Sheppard has hired an attorney and is fighting the possibility of being committed. Since Friday, he’s been jailed at the Beaufort County Detention Center, awaiting a decision on his future.

The uncertainty of Underwood-Sheppard’s release is lighting a new fire under South Carolina’s “truth in sentencing” proponents, who believe offenders should serve every day to which they are sentenced with no possibility of parole and no possibility of “maxing out” their prison sentences. That’s the term South Carolina and other states use to describe offenders who leave prison before their prison terms are served because they earned credit for good behavior, participated in educational classes or held odd jobs while behind bars.

These proponents point to cases like Underwood-Sheppard’s -- who cut his sentence nearly in half by earning credits for good behavior and serving as a chaplain’s assistant, among other jobs -- as proof that the system needs to be reformed.

“It makes the sentence a lie,” said 14th Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone, who believes parole should be eliminated and all offenders should serve at least 85 percent of their sentences, as some violent crimes already require. “Just being able to give victims that kind of certainty would be a good thing,” he said.

Beaufort lawyer Tom Holloway, who represented some of Underwood-Sheppard’s victims in lawsuits against the school district, said the former teacher should serve the full 25 years before being considered for commitment.

“He preyed on small children for a great deal of time,” Holloway says. “I don’t think he should walk the streets again. He was a true professional pedophile.”

But defenders of parole and maxing out say the systems prevent prison overcrowding while increasing safety for guards, save tax dollars and potentially can lead to inmates’ rehabilitation. They see cases such as Underwood-Sheppard’s as an aberration in a system that, for the most part, is fair.

“Rigid penalties are not the answer,” says Beaufort defense lawyer Mike Macloskie, who says many of his clients have turned their lives around after prison.

And state lawmakers have little appetite for requiring inmates to serve every day to which they’re sentenced.

“We’ve tried being tough on crime in the past and it was not a success,” said Sen. Gerald Malloy, D-Darlington, who led the state legislature’s 2010 sentencing reform effort. “The end game is to be smart on crime.”

A CRACK IN THE PAPER

A curious worker at the Boys & Girls Club after-school program, housed at Coosa Elementary School on Lady’s Island, first reported Underwood-Sheppard’s crimes.

She wondered why Underwood-Sheppard, the school’s music teacher, repeatedly asked to see two boys each day in his office that adjoined the music room, according to the arrest report. No one could say just what was happening in the room since Underwood-Sheppard kept paper taped over the windows.

On April 26, 2002, she peeked through a crack in the paper.

Underwood-Sheppard was naked from the waist down, and she could see one of the boys in the room. She called for a coworker, who also peeked inside and saw Underwood-Sheppard stand to pull up his pants and fasten them.

“I was totally freaked out because I couldn’t believe what I saw,” the second worker wrote in a statement to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.

That incident led investigators to Underwood-Sheppard’s home in Beaufort to arrest him on two counts of lewd act on a minor.

“This is crazy,” Underwood-Sheppard told them, according to the investigative report. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

Soon after, more victims came forward after parents began questioning their sons who attended Coosa Elementary and the after-school program there.

On April 24, 2003, Underwood-Sheppard was sentenced to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to nine counts of indecent exposure, seven counts of performing a lewd act on a child and one count of assault and battery high and aggravated.

Underwood-Sheppard, who had gained the trust of many parents and fellow teachers and the devotion of numerous children during his 17 years as an educator in Beaufort County, showed little emotion. The 44-year-old apologized, saying he regretted his actions and that he had an illness:

“I have known for a long time about my illness and am ashamed that I could not act soon enough to prevent it. I am most humbly ... sorry. I cannot undo what I have done.”

Next came lawsuits against the Beaufort County School District and the Boys & Girls Clubs.

The clubs paid out $2.4 million to victims, while the school district settled six of nine lawsuits against it for $4.6 million, which was paid out of school operations taxes.

WHY 25 YEARS MEANS 13

But in South Carolina, a 25-year sentence does not always mean 25 years behind bars -- at least not for the state’s nonviolent offenders, which Underwood-Sheppard was considered to be under the state’s sentencing guidelines at the time.

Just how long he would actually serve has been -- and continues to be -- a guessing game for victims and their families.

Just four and a half years into his 25-year sentence, Underwood-Sheppard was already up for a parole hearing. According to state law, nonviolent inmates are eligible for parole after serving one-fourth of their sentence. They can also be released after serving 51 percent of their sentence, if they earn good-behavior, work or education credits.

On average, the state’s nonviolent prisoners serve about 54 percent of their sentence, according to the S.C. Department of Corrections. Underwood-Sheppard served 53.6 percent of his sentence.

Stone, the solicitor, recalls talking with the worried victims and making the drive to Columbia to appear before the parole board in the hopes of persuading its members to deny Underwood-Sheppard parole.

At the last minute, Underwood-Sheppard has waived his right to the hearing.

Victims had already collected 1,962 signatures on a petition that called for him to stay in prison and had driven to Columbia for the hearing before learning it had been called off.

It was a traumatic experience for the group, recalls Stone.

“Parole eligibility puts victims in the situation of having to relive these crimes each year,” he said, noting that once offenders come up for parole, they’re eligible every year afterward.

Underwood-Sheppard waived his right to a parole hearing each year since.

MAX-OUT

But waiving his annual hearings hasn’t meant that Underwood-Sheppard has rejected a chance to get out early.

Under state law, prisoners sentenced for nonviolent crimes can earn up to one day off their sentence for every two days they are employed or enrolled in classes.

The maximum annual credit for participating in work and education programs is 180 days per year. They can also earn 20 days off their sentence per month for good behavior.

Underwood-Sheppard started out as a wardkeeper’s assistant. He later worked as a canteen operator helper, landscape gardener, office clerk, wardkeeper, teacher’s assistant and chaplain’s assistant.

But he got into some trouble, too. He had disciplinary infractions for possession of a weapon, use or possession of marijuana and three incidents of possession of contraband. The infractions reduced his good-behavior time by 160 days.

The S.C. Attorney General’s Office is now considering him for the Sexually Violent Predator Treatment Program, a civil commitment process for mentally ill sex offenders.

There’s no certainty that Underwood-Sheppard, now 57, will be committed, nor how long he would stay in the program if he was.

One of his former defense lawyers, Bruce Marshall, believes Underwood-Sheppard has served his time and should be released.

“He’s paid his dues,” said Marshall, who has since retired from practicing law. “I don’t think he’s a threat to the community.”

While representing him in his criminal case, Marshall said he became friends with Underwood-Sheppard. He said his former client suffered from an illness for which Marshall hopes he’s been treated.

“He never hesitated to plead guilty,” Marshall said. “Underwood-Sheppard never wanted the cases to go to trial, to avoid hurting families. I admire him for that.”

This story was originally published September 12, 2015 at 12:50 PM with the headline "Man who molested Lowcountry children might only serve half of 25-year prison sentence."