A former Richland County deputy and University of South Carolina basketball player faces a new allegation that he had sex with a student from the high school he used to patrol.
Jamel Bradley, 40, turned himself in Wednesday evening after being charged with sexual battery with a student aged 16 or 17, a statement from the sheriff’s department said. The statement said Bradley had sex “repeatedly” with a Spring Valley High School student between October 2015 and May 2016.
Bradley worked as a Richland County deputy from December 2007 to October 2019. He was a school resource officer at Spring Valley High School, according to the sheriff’s department.
The alleged sexual battery did not involve “aggravated force or coercion,” according to court records.
“I am mad as hell that this monster hid behind the badge and my name for all this time,” Sheriff Leon Lott said. “This is beyond unacceptable behavior by anyone.”
The sheriff’s department charged Bradley after investigators discovered evidence of Bradley having sex with the teen from a deposition in a pending federal lawsuit, a department spokesperson said. Earlier this week, the sheriff’s department was notified that a confidentiality agreement was lifted, allowing investigators to use the information obtained during the deposition to file the latest charge.
Deputies jailed Bradley at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center where he was released on bond.
This is the second criminal charge against Bradley on allegations of having sex with a student.
In November, the sheriff’s department charged Bradley with third degree criminal sexual conduct. He was accused of using “force or coercion to accomplish sexual battery” against a different 17-year-old Spring Valley student, according to authorities.
If found guilty on both charges, Bradley could be punished with 15 years imprisonment.
Bradley was a record-setting point guard for the Gamecocks men’s basketball team in the early 2000s. He attempted to have a professional basketball career before becoming a deputy.
Beyond the criminal charges, Bradley also is embroiled in a civil lawsuit in which he is accused of sexually assaulting a third female Spring Valley student. The suit was filed in 2018.
In that lawsuit, it’s claimed that Bradley assaulted the student between March and April 2018. The lawsuit also says school officials knew about the assault and didn’t report it to police.
The sheriff’s department and Bradley denied the allegations in an answer to the lawsuit. The school district also denied any wrongdoing.
The sheriff’s department fired Bradley in October after the federal lawsuit was filed.
The lawsuit is still pending.
Bradley was accused of inappropriate relationships with students before 2018, according to department records.
In 2011, he was accused of acting in a “flirting” manner habitually with a cheerleader, the records show. A department internal investigation found Bradley hadn’t violated any rules of conduct.
In 2016, a parent told school officials Bradley was having a relationship with a female student and had sent her photos, according department filings. The photos were not described.
An investigation into the accusation by the department found that Bradley met with a female student behind a Target to give her advice on asking a boy to a dance. The sheriff warned Bradley about meeting with students privately and told him to always have another deputy with him.
David Travis Bland won the South Carolina Press Association’s 2017 Judson Chapman Award for community journalism. As The State’s crime, police and public safety reporter, he strives to inform communities about crimes that affect them and give deeper insight into victims, the accused and law enforcement. He studied history with a focus on the American South at the University of South Carolina.