Columbia Standard

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the indictment of Marlboro County Sheriff Charles Lemon and former Deputy David Andrew Cook after both were accused of being involved in a taser incident on May 3, 2020, at the Marlboro County Detention Center.

The suspended Marlboro County Sheriff is accused of ordering Cook to use the taser on Jarrel Lee Johnson and then unlawfully taser him two more times in an attempt to subdue Johnson within the jail. The Washington Examiner reports that the taser was used on Johnson’s chest and leg. 

“Immediately following the indictment of Marlboro County Sheriff Charles Lemon, Gov. Henry McMaster (R) issued Executive Order 2021-42, suspending Lemon from office and appointing former Bennettsville Chief of Police Larry McNeil to serve as interim sheriff until Lemon is acquitted, convicted, the indictment is otherwise disposed of, or until a sheriff is elected and qualifies in the next general election,” according to a news release from McMaster's office.

Twitter users took to the social media platform to express their response to the announcement. 

“If convicted, now-suspended Marlboro County Sheriff Charles Lemon would be South Carolina's 14th sheriff to be convicted of criminal charges since 2010,” The Post and Courier investigative reporter Avery Wilks said in a Dec. 14 Tweet. “We only have 46 counties, guys.”

In 2019, The Post and Courier published an “Above the Law” series, revealing that one in four of South Carolina’s county sheriffs in the last 10 years were accused of breaking the law. And by the end of 2019, three more were indicted and removed from service. 

“In all, 15 sheriffs since 2010 have been arrested on charges ranging from drug dealing to driving under the influence,” The Post and Courier reports.

This incident could be considered as assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, which is a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Common law misconduct of office is a misdemeanor that can lead to up to 10 years in prison, according to The Washington Examiner. 

According to The Post and Courier, Lemon is a U.S. Army veteran and was a four-year police chief in Society Hill, followed by chief deputy for 12 years in Marlboro County. After winning reelection in November, he told WBTW News 13, “Certainly my track record speaks for itself, and may the work that I’ve done speak for me.”

The Washington Examiner reports that Lemon’s replacement, McNeil, served as Bennettsville chief from 2000 to 2016 and was a South Carolina Department of Social Services director of employee safety and law enforcement liaison until early 2021.