We seem to have discovered a bit of a molester muddle in Charleston County.
Several days ago we were informed by the media of the arrest of Scott Wendelberger by Mt. Pleasant Police on two charges of 2nd Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct with a Minor aged 11 to 14. He allegedly likes to supply young girls with alcohol and slip his hands into their bikini bottoms while in a hot tub. Wendelberger was given a bond of $15,000 on each charge and immediately bonded out of jail.
While drifting through the database at the Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center this morning we noticed Wendelberger was back in jail as of 7:44 a.m. on a new charge of Lewd Act on a Child Under 14. No bond has been set yet.
We have seen quite a few comments supportive of Wendelberger on the social media sites of local news outlets implying he is not a child molester, he is simply naive and a really friendly guy. We also received an anonymous report about a previous arrest for the same type of offense which was dismissed by the 9th Circuit Solicitor. The Charleston County Clerk of Court database only shows the arrests from the past week, but we found the following entries in the jail database indicating this is not Wendelberger’s first time being charged with such offenses.
In February of 2012 Wendelberger was charged with Criminal Sexual Conduct With a Minor under 11. He was freed on a $50,000 bond. This charge does not show in the clerk of court database so we suspect it was dismissed by the 9th Circuit Solicitor and scrubbed from public view.
In June of 2014 Wendelberger was charged by CCSO with Lewd Act on a Minor Under 14. The charge status indicates the case is closed. This charge does not show up in the clerk of court database, thus we can assume it was also dismissed.
In our opinion you might be able to claim naivete once, but the second, third and fourth offenses will need a deeper explanation. The old saying, “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” comes to mind. Just pointing out the obvious.
