Lawsuits in church sexual conduct case moved to federal court

A Beaufort man wrongly accused of inappropriately touching a 4-year-old during a Sunday school class last year will have the lawsuits he and his wife filed against the Town of Port Royal and the town’s Police Department heard in federal court.

According to Beaufort County Court documents, the defendants in the lawsuit -- The Town of Port Royal, Sgt. Robert Bilyard, Hope Haven of the Lowcountry, the Beaufort County Department of Social Services, and DSS employees Latasha Williams and Kyra Speller -- filed Jan. 29 to have Joel and Marianne Iacopelli’s lawsuits heard in the Beaufort Division of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina rather than the Court of Common Pleas in Beaufort County.

In both lawsuits, Iacopelli and his wife claimed their constitutional rights against unreasonable search and seizure of property were denied during the the police department’s investigation. That lead the defendants to ask to move the cases to federal court.

The defendants’ attorneys -- Howell, Gibson & Hughes, P.A. of Beaufort -- declined comment when asked the advantage of having the cases heard in federal court.

Jared Newman, Iacopelli’s attorney said Thursday that no dates have been set for court proceedings and that his office is waiting on a response to the suits from DSS.

Iacopelli was charged with July 10 with criminal sexual conduct with a minor under the age of 11 for allegedly touching the child inappropriately during a June 28 Sunday school class at Community Bible Church in Port Royal.

Six weeks later, following a preliminary hearing, Beaufort County Magistrate Richard Brooks dismissed the charges due to lack of probable cause.

The lawsuits the Iacopellis filed Dec. 31 also claimed he was slandered and maliciously prosecuted by the police department, which initiated and maintained the criminal process long after his charges had been dismissed.

A response to Iacopelli’s lawsuit filed by the defendants denied that his constitutional rights were violated.

This story was originally published February 11, 2016 at 3:22 PM with the headline "Lawsuits in church sexual conduct case moved to federal court."