How Could You? Hall of Shame-Louis "Skip" ReVille UPDATED

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, former foster father Louis “Skip” ReVille, 32, “confessed to  sexually assaulting three [male] teenagers aged 13 to 15, ” according to ABCNews 4. Two more male victims, aged 13 and 14 have come forward since the initial story alleging abuse between November 2010 and October 2011 on “Mt. Pleasant roadways.” ReVille was a foster father between 2004 and 2006. Department of Social Services refuses to reveal ages and gender of children placed in his home but according to Post and Courier “people who know the well-traveled coach and educator said at least of two of the kids were adolescent boys.”

Anyone with information should contact the Mount Pleasant Police Department at (843) 884-4176 or confidentially at Crime Stoppers at (843) 554-1111.

ABCNews 4 states that “officials from the Dee Norton Lowcountry Children’s Center notified police of numerous possible sexual assaults involving juveniles whom ReVille had coached, affidavits stated. He was charged Friday [October 28, 2011] with performing sex acts on three boys. ”

“His arrest came just hours after he attended sexual abuse prevention training at Coastal Christian Preparatory School, where he worked as a vice principal. The school has since fired him from his job.

ReVille is being held in protective custody, which is standard procedure for high-profile inmates who could be subjected to violence if placed in the general population, said Chief Deputy Mitch Lucas, the jail administrator. ReVille is housed in a cell by himself, Lucas said.”

“The most recent charges involve allegations that ReVille fondled a 13-year-old boy about 10 times and performed a similar act on another boy, 14, according to arrest affidavits. The documents indicate the acts occurred “on the roadways of Mount Pleasant” and police Capt. Amy McCarthy said they appear to have taken place in ReVille’s car.”

“Mount Pleasant police have charged ReVille, 32, with molesting five teenage boys, and detectives have indicated that more charges are expected in the coming days.”

“ReVille has had access to hundreds of children over the past decade while working in a variety of positions around the tri-county area, primarily in private schools and youth sports.

At The Citadel, for example, he served as senior counselor at a summer camp attended by some 500 children in 2003. School officials reported this week that a camper accused ReVille in 2007 of inappropriate behavior, but the incident didn’t involve physical contact. The school refused to reveal further details.

Police in Charleston, where The Citadel is located, have no active cases under way concerning ReVille, police spokesman Charles Francis said. It is unclear which other jurisdictions might be involved.”

Post and Courier reveals that at The Citadel, “ReVille served as a camp counselor as a student and for two years after he graduated. The camp hosted between 200 and 250 youths during each of its two summer sessions, Perez said.

In addition to being employed by Christian Coastal Preparatory School, “ReVille, a married father of triplets, went on to become a teacher and assistant coach at Pinewood Preparatory School in Summerville, a tennis coach at Bishop England High School, a coach at the Mount Pleasant Recreation Department, a basketball coach at Moultrie Middle School, a travel league basketball coach, a coach at Velocity Sports Performance in Mount Pleasant, an occasional volunteer basketball coach at Rollings Middle School of the Arts in Summerville, and a youth group leader at Eastbridge Presbyterian Church in Mount Pleasant. “

“Bishop of Charleston Robert E. Guglielmone sent a note to Bishop England parents about ReVille’s arrest and the diocese’s intention to cooperate with the police investigation.

ReVille served as the school’s boys’ tennis coach from 2008 to 2010 and left last year on his own accord, Guglielmone said.

“The diocese has no reports of any complaint against Mr. ReVille during his tenure at the school,” he wrote to parents.

Still, full-time guidance counselors are available to students at Bishop England to discuss this situation or any issue they may have, said Maria Aselage, spokeswoman for the Diocese of Charleston.”

Initial bond was set at $675,000. Each of the new allegations has added $200,000 to the bond total. His total bond is now set at $1,075,000.
Police: Former assistant principal confessed to assaulting teens
[ABCNews 4 10/31/11 by Natalie Caula]

Louis “Skip” ReVille appears at a bond hearing before Judge Linda Lombard today.
[Post and Courier 11/3/11 by Tom Spain]

Attorney: ReVille “extremely remorseful” for alleged sex crimes
[Count On 2 11/3/11 by Laura Hettiger]

ReVille was a foster parent
[ABCNews 4 11/3/11 by Natalie Caula]

Skip ReVille helped set up for training on molestation-prevention
[Post and Courier 11/2/11 by Glenn Smith]

Update: “The Citadel’s president, Lt. Gen. John Rosa, apologized on Monday for not reporting allegations about sexual interaction between an underage camper and an adult counselor, Louis “Skip” ReVille to law enforcement.

South Carolina law at the time did not require the the SC state military college to report the accusations but Rosa says “regardless of whether the law said we were supposed to report or not, we should have reported this. We should have taken more action”.

The Assistant Solicitor for the Charleston and Berkeley counties says South Carolina is very specific about who is legally required to report. Debbie Herring-Lash says anyone can report but the law mandates that certain professionals report to law enforcement and the South Carolina Department of Social Services.

Rosa told reporters on Monday that in 2007, the college investigated accusations of inappropriate sexual conduct with children by ReVille, who was a counselor at the military school’s camp. A graduate of The Citadel, ReVille worked as a counselor at the school’s camp for three summers between 2001 and 2003.”

Citadel says school not required to report ReVille accusations in 2007
[Count On 2 11/15/11 by Carolyn Murray]

“In 2007, The Citadel received an allegation from a former camper that, five years earlier, ReVille had invited a boy into his room at The Citadel Summer Camp to watch pornography. Another camper was also present. They did not touch each other, but engaged in sexual activity, The Citadel said. On Monday, the military college in Charleston, South Carolina, said authorities there should have pursued the matter further at the time.”

Ex-Citadel counselor worked with kids for a decade before scandal
[CNN 11/17/11 by David Ariosto]

“Louis “Skip” Reville’s list of sex-abuse victims numbers nearly a dozen now, and still more criminal child sex-abuse charges could be coming, police said.

Looking back, and similar to the growing concerns at Penn State University, there were telltale signs of ReVille’s interest in young boys and, according to one victims’ advocate, missed chances to stop him before the number of his victims grew.

In 2007, Citadel officials say a former summer camper came forward and accused ReVille of illicit sexual conduct in 2002, when ReVille was a cadet. Reported five years after the fact, the school investigated the claims but did not tell police.”

“While teaching at Pinewood Preparatory School in Summerville, some parents and teachers were concerned with the amount of time ReVille spent with young boys, but no one said anything to future employers, according to the Post and Courier. The school denies there was improper conduct.

Those incidents and tendencies should have been red flags, said Cindy McElhinney, program director at Darkness To Light, a Charleston sexual abuse prevention agency.

“In the ReVille case, there were missed opportunities to stop him,” McElhinney said. “If people would have acted on feelings that certain behaviors just weren’t right, we could have better protected children.”

“McElhinney said there’s nothing wrong with helping kids, but most professionals know that one-on-one contact is not appropriate. It should be avoided – even if it’s just for the sake of appearance, she said.

And to others, it should be a big red flag, McElhinney said. Schools and churches should outright forbid that sort of contact.

“Abusers search for ways to have outside contact with kids,” McElhinney said. “The best way to prevent abuse is to have good policies for how adults should behave, and if you violate the policy, you’re out.”

Pinewood Preparatory denied any suggestion that ReVille was involved in any illicit conduct while working at the school.

School spokeswoman Kristen McMullen declined to say why ReVille left the school in 2006, but said the school might release his reasoning or letter of resignation in the future.

ReVille popped up at countless youth-sports events and programs. Now, it seems motivation was sinister, said Mount Pleasant Recreation Department Director Ken Ayoub. The 32-year-old private school principal coached in various athletic programs, was a personal trainer, led Bible studies and worked at a handful of schools. He also was a foster parent.

Reports also indicate that Reville even volunteered to work for free as an administrator at Coastal Christian Preparatory School before being brought on full-time.”

Chances Missed to Stop ReVille
[Mount Pleasant Patch 11/14/11 by Adam Crisp]

“Parents of students who attended Pinewood Preparatory School on Wednesday wrote to administrators at the Summerville private school, requesting that the school preserve all documents relating to accused molester Louis “Skip” ReVille’s employment with the school, according to WCIV-TV.

“It is critical to these families that all records in your possession that in any manner reference Mr. ReVille are preserved. You are hereby on notice that the following documents under no circumstances be destroyed for any reason without a Court Order allowing their destruction. If you do not agree to comply with this request please let me know immediately so that legal action may be taken to preserve the documents and data,” the letter states, according to WCIV.

One parent whose sons were ReVille’s students at Pinewood, but were not victimized or included in the letter written today, says she observed questionable conduct on the part of the now-accused molester, but her reports to school administrators feel on deaf ears.

The mother, who removed her children from the Summerville private school in 2006 after making the reports, said ReVille sought on several occasions to erode the relationship with parents and students through “secret” assignments.

“ReVille gave me the creeps back then,” the mother said, who spoke with Patch on the condition of anonymity. “But when I made reports, the school wanted me to address it with ReVille directly.”
On Monday, The Citadel, where ReVille worked at a summer camp as a college student, said it had reports of improper contact, but it did not report it to police.”

“ReVille in late October was arrested on six counts of criminal child sex-abuse. He is accused of performing various sex acts on teenage boys. Since his arrest, police have added two additional charges, and Hanahan police are expected to bring six more counts from that jurisdiction.”

“This woman’s sons were never victims of sexual contact, the mother said, but she didn’t want to disclose her name because she didn’t want her children associated with the case. The mother, who had three children taught by ReVille, said she wasn’t surprised to hear of his arrest.

“One of their daily tasks was to make a journal entry in their notebook,” the mother said. “This was communication between Skip and his students, to the exclusion of parents. The students were told they could write anything in there, and their parents would not be told about it.”

The mother thought that was improper, and she protested the assignment. Later, ReVille asked kids to make a compilation of music, and again he said the students could pick any music by any artist and he wouldn’t tell parents.

“My son liked Skip, and thought this was great,” the mother said. “As a parent, I was alarmed, and approached the administration with my concern. … It is already difficult enough to maintain family cohesiveness in today’s world, and to have a teacher who purposely tries to put a wedge in parent-child communication is really not acceptable to me.”

The school on Wednesday said ReVille’s contract with the school was not renewed after four years on the job because of “instructional reasons.” School administrators insist no sexual contact was reported while ReVille worked there.

“While Mr. ReVille was employed at Pinewood, the school administration received no notice of any incidents of sexual impropriety on the part of Mr. ReVille,” said Chairman of the Board James Mann in a written statement. “If requested, Pinewood will work in full cooperation with law enforcement officials.”

Pinewood’s handling of her first two complaints resulted in the mother not coming forward when ReVille asked to have one of her sons over to his house for the weekend.

“They diminished what I had to say, so I didn’t even report it,” the mother said.

She said ReVille wanted her son to work at his home over the weekend, and when her son said it was going to be a one-on-one visit outside of school, she told her son he “absolutely” could not go.
The handling of her ReVille complaints raised even more concern for the mother because just two years earlier a teacher was charged with possessing child pornography.

“I thought after that, they would have been more proactive,” the mother said.”
Lawyers, Parents Question Pinewood Prep’s Handling of ReVille
[Mount Pleasant Patch 11/16/11 by Adam Crisp]

Update 2: “South Carolina’s top police agency has joined the investigation of Louis “Skip” ReVille as The Citadel continues to draw heat for mishandling allegations and allowing the admitted molester to roam free.

Also Friday, a former foster child who lived with ReVille said another state agency seems to have dropped the ball in investigating ReVille’s time as a foster parent to four children.

“The teen said he has been waiting for weeks to speak with state social workers about a porn and masturbation session that mirrored what reportedly occurred at The Citadel.

The State Law Enforcement Division confirmed that it has joined the investigation into The Citadel scandal at the request of Charleston police. The agency will look into a teen’s 2007 allegations that ReVille lured young campers into his room to watch porn and masturbate while serving as the camp’s senior counselor.

The Post and Courier asked police whether they will also investigate The Citadel’s failure to report that complaint to authorities. Police responded: “The investigation will incorporate all relevant issues based on evidence discovered during the ongoing probe.”

Under state law, numerous professions, including teachers, principals, clergy and police, are required to report instances of suspected child abuse. College administrators are not specifically mentioned in the law, but attorneys for some of ReVille’s alleged victims argue they are there by extension.

Citadel officials have disputed that they were bound by the law, but have acknowledged that they had a moral obligation to report.

The U.S. Department of Education also is said to be looking into the Citadel case for possible violations of the federal Clery Act, which requires timely reporting of crimes on campus. Officials at the agency said it was against their policies to confirm such investigations. ”

“The state Department of Social Services also pledged to investigate ReVille’s time as a foster parent between 2004 and 2006, but one of ReVille’s former foster children said no one has tried to contact him, leading him to question how much effort the DSS is putting into the case.

The teen, now 19, said the former coach treated him well until one night when ReVille put on a porn movie and began masturbating next to him on a couch. The boy, then around 15, said he sat there uncomfortably for 45 minutes while ReVille pleasured himself. He didn’t know what to think, he said.

“It made me really uncomfortable,” said the teen, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “It was weird. I didn’t know if this was just something older guys did. I just knew I wasn’t going to do it too.”

The teen said he never discussed the incident with ReVille again, and he avoided putting himself in situations where he might be alone like that with ReVille. He had pushed the memory back in his mind until ReVille’s arrest Oct. 28 in Mount Pleasant on molestation charges.

The teen said ReVille never laid a hand on him. But the coach’s arrest got him thinking about ReVille’s penchant for hanging around young boys. ReVille regularly held after-hours dodgeball sessions for boys at Pinewood Preparatory School in Summerville, and went out of his way to give boys rides to and from events, he said.

“These were really young boys — 12 to 13 years old,” the teen said. “He never seemed to be with adults.”

The teen said he plans to go to police with what he knows, but he still hopes the DSS will search for answers as well.

“I want DSS to do the right thing and not sweep this under the  rug,” he said. “There could be somebody else out there who needs help.”

Craig Jones, ReVille’s attorney, could not be reached for comment Friday. He has said that ReVille is “very remorseful” about the pain he has caused. ReVille admitted to the allegations in Mount Pleasant and is cooperating with detectives working the molestation cases.

This week, DSS spokeswoman Marilyn Matheus said her agency was working with police on the ReVille investigation, but she declined to discuss details. When told Friday of the teen’s comments, she said, “That’s not my understanding of what is happening, but he can say what he wants.”

She said privacy laws prevent her from saying more about the children in ReVille’s care or DSS’ attempts to reach them.

The former foster child said he lived with ReVille in Summerville for several months after problems at home forced him into foster care. Another boy who was a Pinewood Prep student lived at the house as well for a time, but he didn’t know of any allegations involving that boy.

The masturbation incident occurred at a home off Dorchester Road where ReVille stayed temporarily, the teen said. The teen said he wasn’t living with ReVille at the time but kept in touch with the coach. ReVille invited him to spend the night after they played basketball one day, he said.

“I was speechless when I heard about his arrest,” the teen said. “I thought he was a great guy.”

SLED now on ReVille case
[The Post and Courier 11/19/11 by Glenn Smith]

Update 3: Independent Mail says, “Admitted molester Louis “Skip” ReVille is due back in bond court this morning to face allegations that he sexually abused four more children in Mount Pleasant, bringing the number of alleged victims there to nine.

Detectives served ReVille, 32, with arrest warrants on six more molestation counts late Tuesday [November 22, 2011], Capt. Stan Gragg said.”

“It is unclear how many victims ReVille is accused of molesting, as some of the Hanahan victims may overlap with the Mount Pleasant cases, authorities said.

The State Law Enforcement Division and Charleston police also are investigating allegations that ReVille watched pornography and masturbated with boys at The Citadel’s summer camp in 2002.

ReVille is said to be cooperating with investigators, and the list of charges against him could grow in the coming weeks, authorities have said.”

Charleston Sun News says, “All in all, ReVille, who’s still behind bars under more than $1 million bond, will face five charges of criminal sexual conduct with minors in the second degree in Hanahan and 14 charges against nine victims in Mt. Pleasant.”

CountOn2 reports, “The Citadel responds to a Freedom of Information request and releases documents surrounding what allegedly happend in the school’s barracks in the summer of 2002 between an unidentified camper and a Citadel graduate and camp counselor Louis Skip ReVille. The additional 47 pages of emails and letters were released to the media on Wednesday.

The documents, which blacks out names and other identifiers, indicate that the General Counsel for The Citadel, Mark Brandenburg, controlled the internal investigation of one it’s former counselors and a camper. The camper reports that he was encouraged to masturbate and watch pornography in The Citadel barracks with ReVille and other campers in 2002. He reported the incident to his parents. The family reported incident to The Citadel in 2007. The Citadel interviewed the family but did not tell police and offered no additional investigation.”

ABCNews4 reports “Monday [December 12, 2011] marks the start of a big week in the case against accused child predator Louis “Skip” ReVille.

A Grand Jury is scheduled to meet Monday and we’ll find out whether any indictments will be handed down against the accused child molester. While there could be as many as 30 victims, charges have only been filed for nine victims in Mt. Pleasant. More charges could be coming out of Hanahan and Summerville.

High profile law firm Motley Rice is now representing one of the alleged victims, a former student of ReVille’s at Pinewood Prep.

One attorney says the job of the law firm is to make sure nothing like this ever happens again.

“All of our efforts will be focused on making sure that this type of activity never occurs in a school again and making sure the school has policies and the appropriate training so they can identify individuals at an early age who may possess the type of characteristics and behavior as Louis ReVille,” said attorney Marlon Kimpson of the Motley Rice Law Firm.

ReVille is scheduled to undergo a mental evaluation ordered by his own attorney later this week.”
Louis ReVille facing 6 more charges
[Independent Mail 11/23/11 by Glenn Smith]

Charges pile on in Louis ReVille child rape case…total now at 19
[Charleston Sun News 11/25/11 by Lindsey Johns]

Citadel releases new detailed documents on ReVille case
[CountOn2 News 11/30/11 by Carolyn Murray]

Grand Jury to decide on indictments against ReVille
[ABCNews 4 12/12/11 ]

Update 4: “A lawsuit against The Citadel charges the South Carolina military college was “grossly negligent” in its handling of a sex abuse complaint four years ago.

The suit was filed Wednesday in Charleston County by attorneys representing the mother of a boy who said he was molested by Louis ReVille.

ReVille was a counselor at The Citadel’s summer camp nine years ago. The college received a complaint in 2007 from a camper who said he had been sexually abused at the camp. The military college did an internal investigation, but did not go to police about ReVille at the time.

ReVille is now charged with nine counts of molesting boys in various settings in the Charleston area.
A Citadel spokeswoman said the college does not comment on pending litigation.”

Lawsuit charges The Citadel was ‘grossly negligent’ in handling of 2007 sex abuse complaint
[The Washington Post 12/14/11 by Associated Press]

“A mother who says her child was sexually abused by Louis Neal “Skip” ReVille in late 2007 is suing the Citadel for failing to act on accusations of sexual misconduct by ReVille that were made earlier that year. According to the lawsuit, the child, who was under 16 years old in 2007, was sexually abused several times over the course of more than a year while “taking athletic supervision” from ReVille in Mt. Pleasant.

The lawsuit seeks monetary damages related to emotional injury and the cost of treatment that the mother says her son required after the alleged abuse. It also seeks an injunction requiring the Citadel to take specific action in future cases where sexual abuse by one of its employees is alleged.

“It would create a requirement of the Citadel to report things like they failed to report in 2007, so it would be a court order that puts some shape to what their obligations were,” says Gregg Meyers, the attorney who filed the lawsuit in a Charleston County Common Pleas court Wednesday morning.

“One thing we hope to do is to change the way the organization responds when they get information about a grown-up who could be a danger to children.”

The mother, who is listed as “Mother Doe A” to protect the family’s identity, blames the Citadel for failing to act on an implicit “duty to warn” after a former camper from the Citadel’s summer camp came forward with accusations that ReVille, a former counselor, had shown him pornography and masturbated in front of him in a bedroom on campus in 2002. The former camper made the accusation in May 2007, and rather than alerting law enforcement or warning ReVille’s employer, the Citadel conducted an internal investigation and dropped the case when the accuser’s family broke contact with the school.

Dawes Cooke, the school’s outside counsel, said he was unable to comment on the suit at this time. ”

“Meyers, the plaintiff’s lawyer in the ReVille case, says he still sees gaps in ReVille’s record.

According to Meyers, when ReVille applied to work in Mt. Pleasant in the summer of 2007, he listed the Citadel as his employer in 2006 and 2007. Once he determines whether that claim is true, he says he will use that information to advise six other families who have contacted him in regards to alleged sexual abuse by ReVille.”

The lawsuit makes the claim that the school showed disregard for protecting children from sexual assault, citing as evidence the fact that the school contacted its insurance provider but did not contact law enforcement, ReVille’s employers, or the parents who placed their children in ReVille’s care.

“Protecting children from sexual assault simply does not matter to the Citadel,” the lawsuit says, “and the Citadel will concern itself with that protection only if the Citadel is compelled to concern itself with it.”
Mother sues Citadel for failing to warn employers about Skip ReVille
[Charleston City Paper 12/15/11 by  Paul Bowers]

Update 5: “The Citadel is denying a lawsuit’s claims that the military college was negligent in failing to report a former camper’s allegations of sexual misconduct by admitted child molester Louis “Skip” ReVille.

The lawsuit centers around the school’s failure to notify police of a 2007 complaint that accused ReVille of showing young boys porn and masturbating with them at The Citadel in 2002. The lawsuit was filed in December by an unidentified mother who contends that the school’s inaction allowed ReVille to go forward and sexually assault her son on numerous occasions in 2007 and 2008.

The Citadel recently filed court papers challenging that assertion and arguing that the mother lacks legal standing to file the suit in the first place.

In its response, the military college stated that it “specifically denies any and all allegations that imply or suggest it knew of ReVille’s dangerousness in 2007.”

Among other things, the response states that the lawsuit fails to state a legal reason why the courts should compensate the mother for emotional distress. The school insists it had no ties to the mother at the time of the alleged abuse and no legal duty to warn her about ReVille. The school further argues that the mother’s claims are barred under the South Carolina Tort Claims Act.

The Citadel is seeking a jury trial to contest the allegations.

Citadel attorney Dawes Cooke declined to comment Tuesday on the filing or the pending litigation.

Gregg Meyers, an attorney for the mother, said he stands behind the lawsuit and looks forward to challenging the school in court. “The Citadel is claiming that when they know someone has a sexual interest in a child it is not their job to tell anybody, and that is unfortunate,” he said.

The suit indicates that the boy was under age 16 when the alleged incidents occurred, and that he came in contact with ReVille through athletic activity. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and a court order forcing The Citadel to report all future sexual abuse allegations concerning children.

ReVille, 32, held multiple teaching, coaching and volunteer positions in the Charleston area. He was arrested Oct. 28 in Mount Pleasant and stands accused of molesting nine boys in that town. Police in Hanahan, Summerville and Charleston also are investigating ReVille’s actions, and authorities have indicated that more charges are on the way. ”

Citadel denies lawsuit’s claims of sexual misconduct
[The Post and Courier 2/23/12 by Glenn Smith]

REFORM Puzzle Pieces

Confidential settlement reached in civil actions involving Louis “Skip” ReVille[Moultrie News 1/17/14]