Port Royal officials prepare to respond to lawsuits in church molestation case
Joel Iacopelli and his wife, Marianne, filed separate suits Dec. 31. The lawsuits include the town, police Sgt. Robert Bilyard, Hope Haven of the Lowcountry, the Beaufort County Department of Social Services, and two DSS employees -- Latasha Williams and Kyra Speller -- as defendants.
Attorney Mary Lohr met for an hour in a closed-door session with town manager Van Willis, police Lt. Andre Massey and members of town council on Wednesday. The meeting was related to legal procedure moving forward, and the town will file an answer to the lawsuits within the required 30 days, Willis said.
He otherwise declined comment. Massey also declined to talk as he left town hall.
"We'll let it be handled appropriately," Willis said.
Iacopelli was charged July 10 with criminal sexual conduct with a minor under the age of 11 for allegedly touching the child inappropriately during a June 28 class at Community Bible Church in Port Royal. Six weeks later, following a preliminary hearing, Beaufort County Magistrate Richard Brooks dismissed the charges.
In his lawsuit, Joel Iacopelli says he was arrested without probable cause, slandered and maliciously prosecuted by the police department. Both lawsuits accuse Bilyard and DSS employees of violating the couple's constitutional rights during the investigation.
Iacopelli also says Hope Haven was negligent during its interview with the alleged victim.
In a statement last week, Willis said police conducted a thorough investigation and that the investigation was ongoing when the 14th Circuit Solicitor's Office told police the alleged victim's interview with Hope Haven and the mother's statement was probable cause for an arrest.
Port Royal expects to be dropped from property lawsuit
In an unrelated lawsuit, several Port Royal property owners are suing the S.C. Ports Authority and town in Beaufort County court related to a stretch of former railroad right-of-way.
Pender Brothers -- an HVAC and welding company -- and residents David Spencer, Sheryl Johnson, Jesse Gnatt and Charles Friedman sued Dec. 3. In the complaint, the residents say their property extends to the center of the railroad line, and that they should be paid for it.
Plans to build a segment of the Spanish Moss Trail along the property -- a little more than a mile of railroad line south of Ribaut Road -- effectively condemned the property, the lawsuit says. The complaint references a 2013 agreement including the Ports Authority and town to use the land for the recreational trail.
Town manager Van Willis said the town doesn't own the land and hasn't signed any related agreements.
In December, Ports Authority attorney Neil Robinson said the property owners in the suit own their property by plat -- a map that defines the parcel -- and that the property line stops at the railroad right-of-way.
"So they never had ownership of any of that land," Robinson said. "If it reverted to anybody, other than the (Ports Authority), it would be the heirs of whoever owned it in the first place when it first became a railroad, which was back in the 1800s."
Robinson said last month he expected the suit to be defended by the attorney general. Control of the port property, including the railroad line in question, was transferred to the Department of Administration at the start of the year for appraisal and auction.
Attempts to reach Robinson on Thursday were unsuccessful.
Ports Authority spokeswoman Erin Dhand said Thursday the agency can't comment on pending litigation and that a response would be filed "in due course."
A similar right-of-way lawsuit, filed on behalf of 260 property owners along the rail line from Port Royal to Yemassee, was settled in 2013 for $33 million. In that case, property owners sued the federal government for not returning easements to the property owners when the railroad was abandoned. Instead, the Ports Authority sold them to Beaufort-Jasper Water & Sewer Authority.
Follow reporter Stephen Fastenau on Twitter at twitter.com/IPBG_Stephen.
Related content:
- Beaufort man charged in flawed church molestation case sues Port Royal, DSS, Jan. 7, 2016
- Beaufort's Iacopelli blasts police, says he was wrongly arrested, trying to rebuild life, Nov. 2, 2015
- Beaufort man accused of sexual conduct with child at church school, July 13, 2015
This story was originally published January 14, 2016 at 9:38 AM with the headline "Port Royal officials prepare to respond to lawsuits in church molestation case."