While I have to suffer because I downloaded a picture, these faggots get to walk without ever having to register while raping real children.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - In Anderson County, one man has spent a chunk of his 20s racking up child sex crime accusations in recent years.
But despite multiple allegations, he’s continued to avoid a lengthy prison sentence so far, and his name doesn’t appear on the sex offender registry.
WIS Investigates found Donavon Jessie Austin Jr.’s case is far from an anomaly in South Carolina. In this state, child sex crime charges are often reduced to assault and battery as offenders can avoid the sex offender registry and sometimes spend little to no time in jail.
An arrest warrant shows Austin was accused of sodomizing a 13-year-old boy in 2020 when he was 26.
But as a part of a negotiated sentence, Austin instead pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and battery, according to sentencing records.
Instead of being incarcerated for as much as 20 years under the initial charge of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor, Austin received no prison time when he pleaded guilty in 2022.
He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but the sentence was suspended for 5 years of probation. He was not immediately ordered to register as a sex offender.
Sentencing records show in his case, the sex offender registry was “held in abeyance for psycho-sexual evaluation.”
Instead of being incarcerated for as much as 20 years under the initial charge of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor, Austin received no prison time when he pleaded guilty in 2022.(WIS)
The following year, arrest warrants show he was accused of multiple rounds of child sex crimes over the course of 2023 — ranging from exposing himself and inappropriate touching, to oral intercourse. Those charges involve a 9-year-old victim and are pending, according to online court records.
WIS Investigates analyzed more than 31 months of South Carolina sentencing data for cases in which defendants were initially charged with criminal sexual conduct, or attempt, with a minor.
Of the more than 1,200 cases involving that charge, the defendant usually pleaded guilty to a crime. But often, the crime they pleaded guilty to was different than what they were initially charged with.
WIS Investigates analyzed 31 months of South Carolina sentencing data for cases in which defendants were initially charged with criminal sexual conduct, or attempt, with a minor.(WIS)
(WIS)
Many defendants were sentenced to little or no time behind bars. That can happen through negotiated sentences or plea agreements between prosecutors and the defendant. In cases involving a guilty plea, prosecutors can also choose to not recommend a sentence and leave the sentencing decision up to a judge.
The number of negotiated sentences or plea agreements in South Carolina do not surprise Sandi Johnson, a senior legislative policy counsel with the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network. RAINN is a nonprofit that works to prevent sexual violence, help survivors and bring perpetrators to justice.
“The criminal justice system does not align with the realities of sexual violence,” Johnson said. “More than half of all sexual offenses are not even reported to law enforcement. Then, when they are in fact reported to law enforcement, very few of them end up being charged.”
And when there are charges, Johnson said dismissed and reduced child sex crime charges are common in the U.S. In South Carolina, WIS Investigates’ data analysis found defendants’ child sex crimes cases were dropped or dismissed more than a quarter of the time during a 31-month period from Jan. 1, 2022, to Aug. 1, 2024.
Most of the cases ended in guilty pleas and convictions.
But in about one in four cases, the defendant instead pleaded guilty to assault and battery, according to sentencing data.
A small percentage of cases went to a trial. The majority of cases that did go to trial ended in a conviction.
Some attorneys say child sex crimes are among the hardest crimes to prosecute.
Jack Duncan, a criminal defense attorney, said if a defendant pleads guilty to a lesser crime, it could be due to a lack of evidence or problems during the investigation.
“There’s an old criminal defense term that ‘you’re looking for a ham for your client,’ that you want a really good deal,” Duncan said. “And those cases just don’t happen.”
Jack Duncan, a criminal defense attorney, said if a defendant pleads guilty to a lesser crime, it could be due to a lack of evidence or problems during the investigation.(WIS)
However, Johnson said prosecutors can still get child sex crime convictions and lengthy sentences, but it requires a lot of work and sometimes new approaches.
“It’s no longer just calling the child witness and putting the burden on the child,” Johnson said. “We need to be looking, as prosecutors, for how we can support and not hurt the child through the process by looking at the other witnesses that can have information and by using experts that can talk about how children process that information.”
In another case in Anderson County, warrants show in 2022, a 14-year-old told investigators she talked to a man through the app, Snapchat, about two years prior to the report. She told police they made plans for the man to buy her a vape.
The warrant showed she told police she snuck out of her house, and he bought her a vape.
She said the man forced the 14-year-old to perform oral sex, saying “now, you owe me,” according to the police report.
The 14-year-old identified the man to police, who records show was 29 years old at the time.
Incident reports state the suspect admitted to investigators he lied about his age, saying he was “pretty sure he used the age 21, so that they would know he could purchase alcohol for them.”
He admitted to buying the teenager vapes and talking about her performing oral sex as payment, but he told investigators the oral sex never happened, according to incident reports.
Incident reports show the suspect told investigators he sent the teenager explicit photos of himself.
Investigators wrote the suspect told them, “He was in a bad place mentally after going through a divorce and was enjoying the ego boost he received from talking to these girls.”
The suspect was charged with two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, criminal solicitation of a minor, two counts of unlawfully disseminating obscene material to a person under 18, second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor or attempt (victim 11 to 14 years old), and second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor or attempt (victim under 16 years old).
Second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
He instead pleaded guilty to contributing to the delinquency of a minor, which carries a maximum prison sentence of three years. His other charges were dismissed, according to online court records.
Court records show he only spent two days in jail and had to go through counseling. When WIS Investigates searched the man’s name, nothing appeared on the sex offender registry.
Court records show the sentence was recommended by the state.
In another case in Berkeley County, the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office prosecuted Joshua David Drago.
He was charged with second-degree criminal sexual conduct, or attempt, with a minor as well as criminal solicitation of a minor and promoting the prostitution of a minor.
Warrants say Drago asked someone he thought was 14 years old to have sex with him.
Joshua David Drago(WIS)
Court records show Drago pleaded guilty to criminal solicitation of a minor. Records show he was not indicted on the other charges, which were dismissed.
In a sentence recommended by the state, records show Drago was sentenced to one day behind bars and was added to the sex offender registry and ordered to continue treatment with a doctor.
The South Carolina Attorney General is considered the state’s chief criminal prosecutor. The office did not respond to our multiple interview requests for this story.
*Since publication, the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office responded saying their office recommended an active prison sentence from 0 to 10 years for Drago. The judge sentenced Drago to one day of time he already served. The office said they did not agree with the sentence given.*
In a sentence recommended by the state, records show Drago was sentenced to one day behind bars and was added to the sex offender registry.(WIS)
WIS Investigates found numerous South Carolina cases of men initially charged with child sex crimes but ultimately sentenced to just one day behind bars.
TRANSPARENCY IN SENTENCING
Anyone can look up individual South Carolina court records through the state judicial branch’s online “public index.”
But getting bulk, statewide data is a challenge.
To receive aggregate sentencing data, WIS Investigates had to request the data from the South Carolina Judicial Branch and pay for it.
Getting data like this is easier elsewhere. In Virginia, for example, the state’s criminal sentencing commission posts aggregate sentencing data online that anyone can access for free.
Those records also show whether sentences were part of plea agreements or if the sentences deviate from Virginia sentencing guidelines.
Johnson said she believes transparency is important.
“What it doesn’t do, however, is show how well we are serving survivors in the criminal justice system, because what is an experience of justice for a survivor is such a unique and individual experience,” Johnson said. “So, I always hesitate to say just based on the aggregated data, what that effect is.”
Johnson said sentencing data can show where there might be gaps in the system.
“Hopefully we learn from that and create a better experience for survivors in the criminal justice system,” she said.
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Hundreds accused of child sex crimes are convicted of lesser offenses in SC, some jailed one day
WIS Investigates analyzed 31 months of South Carolina sentencing data for cases in which defendants were initially charged with criminal sexual conduct, or attempt, with a minor.
