In Dorchester County, on the same night and in the same house, they claim that he, accused the same man of raping them, all active duty Air Force personnel, after multiple women, received a mild punishment, as they say. (WCSC) – DORCHESTER COUNTY.
The case is now closed after the victims’ suffering to continue, revealing a larger issue in the judicial system where rapists are allowed to go free easily. Court documents show that prosecutors and law enforcement followed all the necessary steps, although the victims still faced difficulties.
Prior to her deployment to Afghanistan alongside the Air Force, the ill-fated evening commenced with Kelly Walker’s pre-deployment gathering on April 14, 2019. It was anticipated to be a night of jubilation.
“We were singing karaoke,” she states. “We were imbibing.”
Thaddeus Hayes, a man who Walker’s roommate met on a dating application, was present at the party.
Walker said, “and maybe I talked to him for around three or two minutes, and they were playing in the corner of the pool.”
According to her, Hayes accompanied them. Walker, her flatmate, and her companion went back to her residence in North Charleston after the evening transformed from joyous to astonishing.
Walker says, “Everyone thinks that it will never happen and that you constantly hear about this happening all the time.”
As Walker drinks and converses, the three individuals socialized until Hayes came back. While she and her companion remained on the lower floor, Hayes brought Walker’s roommate, who was drunk and unable to function, upstairs.
“After that, I went to the upper level and proceeded to rest,” she explains.
The details of the assault report, said by Hayes, are too graphic to share. According to court documents, Walker’s friend, who was sleeping on the couch, alleges that Hayes raped them at some point during the night. The police report also includes these details.
Legal documents suggest that Hayes later moved to the higher level, where Walker alleges that she regained awareness while he was engaging in sexual assault.
I stopped screaming when he kept going, just laid there and cried. I couldn’t do anything, I froze. “Walker says,” I’m like that, things like ‘this’ and holding me down, he’s holding me down and I’m face down. “I.
The victim woke up and discovered that her clothing was missing. She immediately called her friend, roommate, and the police to take her to the hospital. Court documents reveal that because the victim had no memory of what happened that night at the house, her roommate Walker did not administer a rape kit. However, prosecutors still consider her a victim based on the evidence.
The impact from the sexual assault was immediate for Walker.
She expresses, “I experienced a considerable amount of remorse and humiliation.” “I was completely frozen. I had no appetite, I couldn’t find rest. I was utterly embarrassed to be in solitary with my unclothed figure, so engaging in bathing and altering clothes presented significant difficulty for me.”
Eight days following the sexual assaults, Hayes was apprehended and accused. Ten days subsequent to the attacks, Walker was deployed to Afghanistan.
Walker expresses, “When you are assigned a task, your whole existence experiences a change and I think that is precisely what I needed at that specific moment.”
In December 2022, over 3.5 years later the sexual assaults occurred, when Hayes admitted his guilt for two charges of criminal sexual behavior, Walker spent a period of seven months abroad while the legal system continued its progress.
In Walker’s perspective, a mere reprimand was insufficient. He had to officially enroll as a sex offender and received a probationary sentence along with a year of being confined to his own home. When Judge Heath Taylor struck his gavel, it was confirmed that Hayes would not be serving any time in jail, although he could have potentially faced a maximum of 20 years of imprisonment.
“We completed all the tasks that we believed we were supposed to complete, and we were unsuccessful,” she states.
Walker’s situation is not the sole instance in which a defendant charged with criminal sexual behavior did not receive a prison sentence.
Sarah Ford, the victims’ attorney, states, “I believe that there are systemic issues that we need to address in order to continue building upon our society, which, quite honestly, and the devastating impact it has on victims, is not just unfortunate. I do not want to use the word ‘unfortunate’ to describe these results, as I think there is more at play here.”
Within the legal proceedings, the majority of instances involving criminal sexual behavior in South Carolina are ultimately dismissed, while only a small fraction proceed to trial, as evidenced by the contents of court documents.
In the last decade, court records demonstrate that approximately 73 percent of the cases were dismissed. It is worth noting that only around 2 percent of closed criminal sexual conduct cases in Dorchester County proceeded to trial, regardless of whether they were classified as first, second, or third-degree offenses.
In the last 10 years, the court documents reveal that 71 percent of cases were dismissed, while only 2 percent proceeded to trial in Berkeley County, spanning across the county line.
In Charleston County, during the same time period, approximately 61 percent of trials were conducted for sexual criminal cases, while about 8 percent of court records pertaining to those trials were closed.
However, in cases like Walker’s, even when the defendant pleads guilty, the outcome can be disappointing, as Ford prosecutors and police cooperate to obtain rape kits from the victims.
She states, “You seldom have confirmation like you had in this instance.” “The individuals were in their residence. They promptly reported. [It was] exemplary. They precisely followed the instructions. It’s extremely challenging to witness victims endure the distress of sexual assault, endure the distress of getting ready for legal proceedings and pursuing justice, doing everything and yet still completely excluded and disappointed by the system.”
Something that necessitated a surgical procedure, a physical state she claims is a consequence of the sexual assault and chronic stress disorder, she experiences post-traumatic stress disorder. Walker affirms that she is still grappling with the emotional distress stemming from that April incident.
Despite the trauma and outcome of the case, Taylor also believes that it is of utmost importance to come forward as victims of sexual assault. However, she was not honored by the judge’s decision to not grant her request for leniency, as she believes that victims should not be shown leniency.
Walker expressed, “You must not surrender as the situation will only deteriorate.” “Collectively, we possess more strength than each of us individually,” he affirmed. “It is imperative to persist in the battle, with all of us united.”