‘Don’t come back’: 9 plead guilty in child exploitation crimes in Charleston hearings 

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - A total of 22 people accused of sex crimes involving children faced court Monday, but punishments varied for those who took plea deals and some had their days in court postponed.

Of the 22 scheduled to accept plea deals on Monday, four were sentenced to prison, five received probation, five turned down the proposed deal, choosing to have a trial date scheduled; and seven asked for a continuance.

The remaining defendant was deemed incompetent to stand trial.

Judge Debra McCaslin overheard Monday’s plea hearings, which included charges of criminal solicitation of a minor, sexual solicitation of a minor and unlawfully disseminating obscene materials to those under 18 years old.

Although Monday’s hearings were held in Charleston County, the plea deals were offered and negotiated by South Carolina’s Attorney General’s Office.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story contains graphic details some may find disturbing. Reader discretion is advised.

Sentenced to prison

Rodney Lester Ellis, David M. Morgan, Ernest Brantley Cumbee III and Johnny William Poston received prison time during Monday’s hearings.

In 2020, Ellis was charged with criminal solicitation of a minor and attempted criminal sexual conduct with a minor. He pleaded guilty to one charge of communicating and traveling to meet a police officer posing as a 14-year-old.

McCaslin accepted Ellis’ plea deal and said, “the court would like to keep eyes on him for as long as possible.” Ellis was sentenced to nine years, minus over 1,000 days he has already served behind bars. After his prison time, he will face four years of probation.

Morgan was charged in 2022 with criminal solicitation of a minor and sexual exploitation of a minor in the first degree for communicating with a person whom he believed to be a 13-year-old male.

“Now that I have a daughter and a family I understand that this is extremely wrong, I ask for some leniency,” Morgan said.

Morgan pleaded guilty to one charge and was sentenced to four years in prison, minus 147 days he already served. Morgan will also be placed on probation for four years and placed on the sex offender registry.

Cumbee was charged in 2022 with sexual exploitation of a minor in the first degree for communicating with a 13-year-old female. He entered a guilty plea to criminal solicitation of a minor, which is a lesser charge.

Cumbee is already on the sex offender registry after being charged in 1993 with criminal sexual conduct and in 2016 with failure to register. His wife asked the court to not send him to prison.

“Back in ‘93, he made a mistake as some people do, most people do. Please don’t take him away from me,” she said.

McCaslin sentenced Cumbee to five years in prison and four years of probation. He will remain on the sex offender registry.

Poston was charged in 2020 with first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, criminal solicitation of a minor and criminal sexual conduct with a minor in the second degree.

Poston pleaded guilty to one charge in sending and communicating sexually explicit messages with a 12-year-old female.

In Poston’s case, the victims are real and now permanent restraining orders are in place for the minor victim and the minor’s grandmother. The victim’s grandmother said in a written statement that was read in court that the child was scared and confused that he was going to come after her.

Poston also has a prior record of domestic violence. McCaslin sentenced him to prison for three years, minus 442 days of time served. Poston will be placed on the sex offender registry.

Probation, no prison time

Five defendants were sentenced to probation instead of any prison time for the crimes they committed.

Heyward Lee Cremeans pleaded guilty to unlawfully disseminating obscene materials to those under 18 years old. In 2021, Cremeans was accused of communicating with a 13-year-old victim and sent her explicit images of his genitalia.

Cremean’s mother was inside the courtroom and spoke to the court on his behalf.

“I understand the severity of this case, I believe he is very remorseful, she said. ”On both sides, there were untruths told to each other. I am asking Your Honor to see past everything and understand that Heyward is moving forward in his life now and is becoming an asset to society.”

The judge placed Creamean on five years of probation with a suspended sentence of 10 years.

“If you violate anything, I’ll put you in jail for 10,” she said. “Don’t come back.”

Creamean was also ordered to be added to the sex offender registry. Unless he violates his probation, Creamean will serve no additional time behind bars.

Creamean’s case also involved a victim who now has a permanent restraining order against him.

Danny Shawn Daughtery was charged in 2020 with criminal solicitation of a minor and unlawfully disseminating obscene materials to those under 18 years old. Investigators say he communicated with a person he thought was a 14-year-old girl, but was actually an undercover cop.

Court documents state Daugherty sent explicit images and made arrangements to meet with the underage girl. He even stated in messages, “I don’t think I’m coming over for play time. I’m too scared to get caught. I would not do well in jail. Lol.”

Daughtery pleaded guilty to one charge and was sentenced to two years of sex offender probation. He will not be officially placed on the sex offender registry and will serve three years behind bars if probation is violated.

Christopher Phillip Eaton Fisher was charged with sexual exploitation of a minor in the second and third degree in 2021. Fisher uploaded 13 images possibly depicting child pornography to Snapchat.

Fisher’s mother also spoke to the court.

“My son has never been in trouble,” she said. “He’s not a bad boy.”

He pleaded guilty to one charge, was sentenced to five years of sex offender probation and will be placed on the sex offender registry.

Travis Reed Gaye was charged with six counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of second-degree sexual exploitation in 2023. Court documents state Gaye had video of an infant being forced to commit sex acts.

Gaye’s attorney, Charlie Condon, said his client has gone through many different treatment programs since committing the crimes, including a sexual disorder treatment program at MUSC.

He pleaded down to one count and was sentenced to five years of sex offender probation, placed on the sex offender registry and will serve ten years in prison if he violates probation.

Jacob Daniel Ouellette was charged in 2020 with two counts of criminal solicitation of a minor, second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor and first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor.

Ouellette pleaded guilty to communicating with a person he thought was a 14-year-old but was actually an undercover cop. Court documents state he had wanted to engage in sexual intercourse and oral sex with the minor.

His attorney said Ouellette had an addiction to pornography that led to a slippery slope. He has since completed therapy, published a book and leads a group at his church.

Ouellette was sentenced to sex offender probation for two years, will not be officially placed on the sex offender registry and will serve three years behind bars if probation is violated.

Other outcomes

Andrew Reed Benson, who was charged in 2023 with one count of criminal solicitation and one count of sexual exploitation of a minor, was deemed not competent in a report submitted to the court.

Affidavits allege that Benson received a sexually explicit from an out-of-state 13-year-old boy.

Both McCaslin and the state agreed with the findings of the competency evaluation, with McCaslin electing for Benson’s case to be sent to probate court and to remain on bond.

Logan Freddie Brady, Matthew Robert Jordan, Ali Dawud Muhammad, Brownie L. Vosick and Ontario Lamar Staley denied plea deals offered by the Attorney General’s Office and are now scheduled to go to trial.

Attorneys for Clay Treldon Bishop II, Jesse Dalton Haney, Jermaine Lamott Holmes, James Hook, Robert Jones, Robert Martin Lindenberg III and Thomas Elliott Aspinwall asked the court for a continuance, or a delay in the start of their trials.

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