Parents demand accountability after sex offender found volunteering at Pawleys Island Christian Academy

PAWLEYS ISLAND, SC (WMBF) - Parents, teachers, and church members crowded a community meeting in Murrells Inlet on Tuesday night.

At the meeting, they were demanding answers from leadership at Pawleys Island Christian Academy regarding a sex offender who was found doing volunteer work near children.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Murrells Inlet sex offender arrested for doing volunteer work near children

Pastor Don Williams addressed the crowd but offered no opportunity for attendees to ask questions or voice concerns, according to those present.

Former teacher Eliza Perez, who said she began speaking out as soon as she learned of the situation, described the meeting as falling short of the transparency Williams promised.

“Lies, zero accountability, I mean, anything you wanna add to that? I mean lies, lies, and lies, and zero accountability. Our kids deserve better,” Perez said.

Parent Kaity Mears said the alleged contact between Warren Perry and students at the school extended beyond a single incident.

“We have pictures of when he’s been at water day and field day with our children in bathing suits. He’s always around, I’ve seen him at pick up, not too long ago, he was getting a hula hoop out of the trees for the kids, and to me that is contact with a minor,” Mears said.

Williams said moving forward, the church and academy will conduct thorough background checks on volunteers. That announcement drew criticism from parents who questioned why the practice was not already in place.

“Now we’re going to start screening volunteers, that’s interesting that you weren’t doing that before,” Mears said.

Mears also questioned the sincerity of the meeting itself, saying leadership only acted after the situation became public.

“He had no emotion, he was reading from a script, he was just doing what he was supposed to do because they got caught. This has been going on since 2023, and only because people have spoken up, this meeting has happened,” Mears said.

Perez said the scope of the situation may extend well beyond what has been reported.

“We’ve exposed children from three completely different schools to a pedophile. That they were completely unwilling, their parents were just looking for an aftercare option,” said Perez. “The scope of this, I think we’re just getting started, like there is so much more to this that will come out.”

Grandparent Marti Hart said the children, parents, and teachers bear the greatest cost.

“I mean the losers in this are the parents, the children, and the teachers who have come to their morals and said peace out,” Hart said.

Multiple attendees said they will no longer associate with the church or school.

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