New lawsuits detail alleged abuse, years-long access by sex offender at Pawleys Island church

GEORGETOWN COUNTY, S.C. (BFMG) — In complaints filed July 21, 2026, two mothers identified as Jane Doe sued Pawleys Island Community Church and Pawleys Island Christian Academy, along with senior pastor Don Williams, his wife Ginny Williams, academy director Niki Howard.

One lawsuit alleges that a 5-year-old boy, identified as John Doe, was sexually abused by a maintenance worker the church allegedly knew was a sex offender. The other claims a preschool child, identified as R.K., was exposed for years to the same man, a registered sex offender, and that his mother has been left with permanent anguish over what her son may have suffered.

Allegations of hiding a sex offender “within its walls”

Both complaints assert the church “deliberately and recklessly hid a sex offender within its walls” and allowed him to work as a custodian with unrestricted access to classrooms and children from about 2021 through July 2026.

The filings state that Warren Spence Perry, convicted in Georgetown County in 2023 of sexual exploitation of a minor, worked in the same building as infants, toddlers and preschoolers and was present “every single day” and “all the time.” Plaintiffs say he frequently entered classrooms while school was in session, interacted with children daily and was even included in an auction “prize” in which a child could spend a workday shadowing custodians.

Teacher warnings, state citations and alleged retaliation

The lawsuits claim that when teachers raised alarms about a registered sex offender working around children, academy leadership did not remove him and instead defended his presence. One complaint alleges administrators told a teacher the man “has rehabilitated himself” and said judging him was “not a Christian thing to do,” then forced the teacher out of her job after she objected.

State regulators also cited the academy multiple times for failing to complete required background checks on staff, according to the filings. The complaints say the South Carolina Division of Early Care and Education found background‑check violations in February 2024, March 2024 and March 2026, while the academy continued to represent that all volunteers were “background checked and trained” and that its preschool was “safe” for children.

Claims of sexual abuse and lifelong trauma

In the case involving John Doe, the mother alleges her son came home from Pawleys Island Christian Academy in July 2022 and described a “game” he learned at school that involved trying to insert a penis into another child’s rectum. When his parents asked who taught him, the boy reportedly said it was a white‑haired man at the school, whom the complaint identifies as the custodian.

The lawsuit alleges the sex offender attempted and/or did insert his penis into the child’s rectum on campus and that the boy has required counseling and will “forever carry this disgusting abuse with him.” In the second case, R.K.’s mother says her son, then three years old, was enrolled at the academy from at least September 2025 through July 2026, during the period when the sex offender had daily access to children, and that the uncertainty about what her nonverbal child may have experienced is itself a permanent injury.