Former Lexington pastor faces child sex crime charges

A former church leader in the Lexington area has been charged by a federal grand jury with multiple counts of producing, distributing and possessing child sexual abuse material. 

The indictment comes as the defendant, Richard Channing Shealy, of Lexington, faces dozens of state charges related to child sex crimes.

Shealy, 54, is accused by federal prosecutors of producing four sexually explicit images of a minor sometime between March 2004 and May 2006. A court document says Shealy “had access to” the minor, but it doesn’t explain the circumstances.

This February, according to his charging documents, Shealy distributed images of child sexual abuse material, or CSAM, via an online file-sharing network. Shealy did not know he’d sent the files to an undercover agent with U.S. Homeland Security Investigations.

Police then searched Shealy’s home and found more CSAM files on his computer, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of South Carolina. The files, prosecutors said, included pictures of a child whom Shealy abused in 2004 and 2006.

Shealy’s production charges are punishable by up to 30 years in federal prison; his distribution and possession charges are punishable by up to 20 years. He also faces fines of up to $250,000 on each charge.

CSAM was previously called child pornography. Authorities say describing the content as child sexual abuse material “better reflects the abuse that is depicted in the images and videos and the resulting trauma to the child.”

Meanwhile, Shealy is facing 33 related charges brought by the South Carolina attorney general’s office in March and May: sexual exploitation of a minor and criminal sexual conduct with a minor. 

Shealy's website, which has been removed since his initial arrest March 26, detailed his career as a singer, songwriter and worship leader in Lexington-area churches. 

The website also identified him as the husband of Beth Shealy, vice chair of the Lexington 1 school district until she resigned March 29.  

Shealy has been detained at the Lexington County jail since May 1, when the state brought a second set of charges. He was previously released from jail on bail.

He is scheduled to appear at the federal courthouse in Columbia at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 4.

Tiffany Tan has been a journalist in the U.S. and abroad for more than 20 years. Contact her on Facebook at Reporter Tiffany Tan or 839-223-4652 on mobile/Signal/WhatsApp.