Police blotter
The following accounts were taken from reports filed with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office.
Guilty plea
An Appling man accused of sexually assaulting three students on Greenbrier High School's campus last year pleaded guilty to two charges in a Columbia County court Monday.
Thryshaun Ronta McCladdie, 20, pleaded guilty to child molestation and misdemeanor sexual battery as part of a negotiated plea agreement with the district attorney's office, Assistant District Attorney Shauna Reeves said. McCladdie will be sentenced today and could receive up to 21 years in prison, Reeves said.
Molestation arrests
Two Martinez men were arrested last week on child molestation charges.
Jerry Willis Denny, 67, of the 4000 block of Pleasant Home Road, was arrested Saturday and charged with two counts of enticing a child for indecent purposes, two counts of furnishing harmful materials to children and two counts of aggravated child molestation, according to jail records.
Denny was arrested after two male relatives younger than 16 told their
parents Denny provided them with pornography and sexually abused them for
more than two years, said Columbia County sheriff's Investigator Brian
Jones.
Denny is being held in the Columbia County Detention Center on a combined $20,200 bond for four charges but is being held without bond for the aggravated child molestation charges, Jones said.
Eric Wayne Loudermilk, 31, of the 4600 block of Peavine Court, also was arrested Thursday for incest and child molestation after a 15-year-old relative accused him of sexually abusing her for nearly three years and raping her in December 2003, said Columbia County sheriff's Investigator Gil Lopez.
Loudermilk is being held in the detention center on a combined $65,150 bond, according to jail records.
Stolen lawnmower
A Grovetown woman got one last look at her lawnmower as someone was driving away with it Thursday.
Vada Irene Wood, of the 4400 block of Wrightsboro Road, told police that she heard a noise outside, then looked out her side door to see a gray compact car with what appeared to be her lawnmower sticking out of the trunk, according to a Columbia County Sheriff's Office report. Wood said the vehicle drove off before she could get outside.
She could not offer any other information but said she would prosecute if the suspects were identified, the report stated.
Man scams parents
The director of a local preschool told police Friday that a man claiming to be from a child identification agency misrepresented himself and left the area with money from parents.
Nancy Gail Innacone, the director of La Petite Academy at 421 S. Old Belair Road, Martinez, told police that a 44-year-old man came into the academy in February offering the Little Angels identification program for her pupils, according to a Columbia County Sheriff's Office report.
Innacone said she researched the company through its Web site, and after determining that he was a legitimate salesman and Little Angels was a real business, offered the program to parents of academy children. The man returned March 5 and collected between $15 and $25 each from 63 parents. When he returned March 10, he had fingerprint kits but no ID cards, the report stated.
The man has not been heard from since, Innacone told police. She investigated further to find that the man no longer works for Little Angels. At the time of the report, Innacone was informing all affected parents, the report stated.
Sgt. Sean Clack contacted the Greenwood County Sheriff's Office Detention Center in Greenwood, S.C., and discovered that the man is in custody there for traffic charges.
Martinez Fire Department Activity Report for the week of April 11-17:
Structure fires, three; grass fire, one; controlled burns, two; fire alarms, 11; carbon monoxide, one; medical calls, 21; rescue calls, 11; investigations, two; public service, one; and other, three.