Former Pawleys Island Community Church (PICC) Pastor Don Williams; his wife, Ginny Williams; and the former director of the church’s school, Niki Howard, have been criminally charged, said Georgetown County Sheriff Carter Weaver in a press conference Monday, July 20. The charges stem from efforts church and school leaders took to conceal the sex offender status of church volunteer Warren Perry, who was also criminally charged Monday.
Don and Ginny Williams, Howard, and several church elders resigned from their positions on Friday, July 17.
An “abundance of evidence” has allowed authorities to conclude “that Don Williams, Ginny Williams, Niki Howard and Warren Perry all colluded to knowingly and willfully placing our children in harm’s way,” said Weaver at the press conference.
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Pawleys Island Community Church, Affiliated School Under Fire
On July 14, a Pawleys Island Community Church volunteer named Warren Perry was arrested for violating his probation by having contact with minors. Perry served as a custodian on the church campus. The church runs Pawleys Island Christian Academy (PICA), and Google Maps shows that the school is at the same location as the church.
Perry was convicted in 2023 for one count of sexual exploitation of a minor in the third degree, a crime that was committed in 2020. He was originally charged with two counts, Weaver explained at the press conference, but one charge was dismissed. Perry received a sentence of 10 years, which was suspended to five years of probation. He was ordered not to have contact with minors.
Weaver identified Williams’ role, in addition to pastor, as owner/operator of PICA. Ginny Williams, in addition to being a pastor’s wife, was a decision-maker at the school.
Weaver said that his office was first alerted to the possibility Perry was violating his probation by a concerned citizen on Sunday, July 12. Authorities interviewed church leaders that day and were told that Perry was “not allowed around children.” That statement turned out to be “simply not true,” the sheriff said.
On July 13, the sheriff’s office contacted the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services (PPP), which determined Perry was violating his probation. Perry was subsequently arrested and released on bond.
During the press conference, Weaver played footage of then-Pastor Don Williams at the parole office receiving news that Perry had violated his probation by being in contact with minors. Williams appeared shocked and wanted to know how “contact with minors” was defined.
A former Pawleys Island Community Church pastor, his wife, and the former director of the church’s school have been criminally charged, along with a former church volunteer whose sex offender status they concealed.Click to Post