SPARTANBURG HERALD-JOURNAL (on-line version)
http://www.GoUpstate.com/
Spartanburg, South Carolina

Posted on December 15, 1999

Curfew Ordinance Passes First Test: Blacksburg Council

By Julie Woodcock

After a rash of burglaries last weekend believed to be the work of juveniles, the Blacksburg Town Council unanimously passed a curfew ordinance Tuesday.
Blacksburg Police Chief David Gibson told the council there have been seven incidents of juvenile crime in the past week, all of which occurred after midnight. "The majority of the crime that happens in Blacksburg is committed by juveniles," Gibson said.
Three of the incidents happened just a few hours apart on Saturday and Sunday, according to incident reports. Main Attraction Video on 501 W. Cherokee St. was burglarized sometime after 10 p.m. Saturday, with 29 video games taken. Byars Used Cars at 503 W. Cherokee St. also was broken into between the hours of noon Saturday and 10:15 a.m. Sunday. The business office was ransacked, and $300 in jewelry and three handguns stolen. A handgun also was stolen from a car Sunday morning shortly after midnight.
Gibson said he believes the ordinance would go a long way toward preventing such incidents. "It'll help," he said. "The thing about it is, we need to figure out what to do when people violate it."
The ordinance makes it unlawful for any child under 18 to be on the streets or any other public place after midnight and before 6 a.m. unless accompanied by a parent or guardian. However, parents can grant their children written permission to be out in those hours. Children who violate the ordinance may be arrested and detained until a parent or guardian can take charge of them and give bond for their appearance in court.
The ordinance also makes it unlawful for parents or guardians to allow children to be on the streets in violation of the ordinance. It would make parents liable for actual damages for the willful or malicious acts of minors who cause injuries to people or property.
Blacksburg attorney Larry Flynn said the ordinance was first proposed in 1993. However, it was never adopted, though he said he wasn't sure why. The ordinance will have to be approved two more times before it is put on the books. Flynn said he is concerned about some of the details such as parent's liability for their children's misconduct and that he will research those points. Flynn said similar ordinances designed to fight truancy have been challenged in court. "I'd want to check to see what other communities have done," he said. If the second reading of the ordinance passes, it could go into effect in January.

SOUTH CAROLINA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NEWS
http://www.house.gov/spratt/news_archive/99_00/n10640.htm
Columbia, South Carolina

September 10, 1999

Blacksburg Wins Funds for Two New Officers

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. John Spratt (D-SC) announced today that Blacksburg has won a $150,000 grant from the Justice Department to hire two full-time police officers.
"This grant," said Spratt, "is from the Justice Department's COPS program — Community Oriented Policing Services. Community policing is making a difference in the lives of citizens across the nation. As we put more officers on the streets, we will continue to reduce crime in our communities."
Spratt said that all of the officers hired with COPS grants work in community policing, a strategy that develops partnerships between law enforcement officers and the neighborhoods they serve in order to reduce crime. Many police chiefs, sheriffs, and criminal justice experts have credited community policing with the drop in crime rates across the nation.
COPS grants provide funding for 75 percent of the total salary and benefits of each officer hired for three years, up to a maximum of $75,000 per officer. The remainder is paid out of state or local funds.
Spratt said that over the past five years, the COPS program has added over 100 officers in the 5th Congressional District of South Carolina.

THE SHELBY STAR
http://www.shelbystar.com/
Shelby, North Carolina

Teacher may Face Jail for Pornography

September 8, 1999

By Andrew Dys
Star Staff Writer

KINGS MOUNTAIN - The Blacksburg, S.C., high school teacher who was caught using a hidden camera to videotape three teen-age girls in a bathroom at the school won't spend any time in a South Carolina jail - but he'll find out Friday if a guilty plea in federal court will mean time in federal prison.
John Edward Heath Jr., a preacher's son and music teacher, pleaded guilty in South Carolina court last week to three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, according to court records in Cherokee County. The records said he was placed on five years' probation. Neither Heath nor his attorney, Usha Bridges of Gaffney, S.C., could be reached for comment.
But even with the probationary sentence in South Carolina, Heath faces a federal pornography charge. After Heath was charged April 20 by Blacksburg Police, he gave permission to police and federal authorities to search his home at 308 Waco Road in Kings Mountain. At Heath's home, U.S. Customs agents confiscated two computers, a video recorder and videotapes. He was later indicted on a federal charge in North Carolina of transmitting pornography over the Internet.
According to Sue Ellen Pierce, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, Heath is scheduled to plead guilty to the pornography charge at 2 p.m. Friday. Ms. Pierce said there is no set sentence for the charge, and that federal judges have discretion when handing out sentences.
"The judge will take many factors into sentencing consideration," Ms. Pierce said, "and I am sure that his conviction record will be a very important part of what the judge looks at."
Ms. Pierce declined to comment on whether Heath had cooperated with federal authorities during the investigation.
Agent Jack Barnwell of the U.S. Customs Service said that he had not been advised of Heath's plea on the South Carolina charges, but that the charge that Heath faces in federal court is what he called "a serious felony."
Blacksburg High School Principal Tom Goforth said Tuesday that the staff and students at the school were stunned at the time of the incident in April, but they have tried to put the event behind them and move on.
"This is a new school year," Goforth said. "What happened in the spring was unfortunate and inexcusable, and we hope nothing like this ever happens again. There is nothing more important than the safety and security of our students."
Cherokee County Schools Superintendent Dr. Buddy Broome said at the time of Heath's arrest that all teachers in the county have their criminal history checked before they are hired. Heath, 28, had no prior criminal history before his arrest in April.
Heath is a Gardner-Webb University graduate who was the chorus director at Blacksburg High School. After an incident at Gardner-Webb in July 1997 in which he was allegedly found on the campus near a woman's dormitory at 1:30 a.m., he was barred from the campus.
No criminal charges were filed against him.
The investigation into Heath's activities at Blacksburg High started in April when he was caught by a Cleveland County Sheriff's Office deputy videotaping sunbathers at the Broad River Greenway in Boiling Springs. Detective Bobby Steen turned the videotape over to Blacksburg Police, who found the footage from the high school.
After Heath was charged in April, he was immediately suspended from his teaching job at Blacksburg High, then later resigned from the Cherokee County Schools. Heath is not in custody as he awaits his court date Friday, but could not be reached at home for comment.

SPARTANBURG HERALD-JOURNAL (on-line version)
http://www.GoUpstate.com/
Spartanburg, South Carolina

Posted on-line September 02, 1999

Man Says He's Guilty of Taping Three Girls: Ex-Blacksburg Teacher

By Julie Woodcock

A former Blacksburg High School chorus teacher pleaded guilty Wednesday to videotaping three teen-agers as they used the restroom at the high school.
John Edward Heath Jr., 27, of King's Mountain, N.C., pleaded guilty in a Cherokee County 7th Circuit courtroom to three counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor. As part of a plea bargain arrangement, the charges were reduced from second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, which carries a mandatory two- to five-year sentence.
Assistant Solicitor Tommy Wall told Judge Frank Eppes that Heath set up a hidden camera in the Blacksburg High School girls' restroom April 1. Heath had been a chorus teacher at the school for two years.
A Cleveland County deputy seized the camera when he found Heath videotaping sunbathers with it later that month. Deputies discovered that the tape in the camera showed three girls, one 13 and two 14-year-olds, as they used the bathroom at the Blacksburg High School gym. Cleveland County officials contacted Blacksburg police, who arrested Heath April 19.
"I'm truly sorry for the things that have happened," Heath told Judge Frank Eppes. "It's devastated my life." He said his actions had cost him his career and hurt his family, as well as subjected him to humiliating media scrutiny. Heath said he's sought out counseling, wants to renew his commitment to God and has vowed to change his life. He'd also cooperated fully with investigators, he said.
Heath's father, John Edward Heath Sr., the pastor of a church in King's Mountain, N.C., spoke on his son's behalf. "I wish we could roll back the pages," he said. "I love my son, and I'm sorry for everyone involved."
Blacksburg victim's advocate Lou Ann Wright told Eppes that the three victims and their parents decided not to appear in court because they did not want to deal with media attention. She said, however, they were deeply concerned about the outcome of the case, particularly given that Heath had sung in one of the victim's churches and knew all three. Wright said one of the girls was still in counseling as a result of the experience. She said they wanted to make sure Heath was ordered to register as a sex offender so he could never teach again.
Heath resigned his position at Blacksburg High April 25. Eppes sentenced Heath to five years probation and six months house arrest with electronic monitoring. Heath must undergo counseling while under probation and register as a sex offender. If he violates the probation, Wall said he faces a 15-year sentence on the three charges.
Heath also faces federal child pornography charges and is scheduled to appear in Federal Court Tuesday. He was indicted on charges of possessing child pornography June 9 after U.S. Customs agents found the images on his home computer, which police seized following his arrest.

THE SHELBY STAR
http://www.shelbystar.com/
Shelby, North Carolina

Blacksburg Teacher Suspended, Barred from School Area: Additional Charges may be Forthcoming

July 13, 1999

By Andrew Dys
Star Staff Writer

BLACKSBURG, S.C. — The students and staff at Blacksburg High School were in shock Monday, said school principal Tom Goforth, following the arrest of a teacher on charges that he videotaped three girls in a bathroom at the school.
Cherokee County Schools Superintendent Dr. Buddy Broome said "I am appalled by this disgraceful incident, and I will not permit this kind of activity in any Cherokee County school. I am mad as hell, really. This is just plain terrible and we in Cherokee County won't put up with it."
John Edward Heath Jr. of Kings Mountain, in his second year of teaching chorus in Blacksburg, was arrested outside the school before classes started Monday, on three counts of exploitation of a minor. He was jailed under $250,000 secured bond in the Cherokee County Jail in Gaffney, S.C. He has been suspended with pay by the Cherokee County schools until the trial is finished, and has been barred from school grounds by Broome.
Blacksburg High has 500 students in grades eight through 12, who were taking South Carolina standardized tests Monday. Broome said some students noticed the police cars outside the school, but the student body wasn't informed until the afternoon when testing was finished for the day.
Goforth said he addressed the staff after school, whom he described as "saddened and sickened, really, by what we have found out."
"We have to do all we can to make sure this kind of thing never happens again," Goforth said. "Plus, we have to assure parents that this behavior by a teacher is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated."
Goforth said he assured the parents of the three victims that their children's safety is a priority, and said he talked to several other parents on the telephone Monday during the school day.
"The three girls are fine, but the parents are understandably concerned at this point," Goforth said, "But all parents have been assured that the school is handling this right now, and there is no longer a problem here."
Goforth declined to say if the three were back in school. Broome said he was set to meet with the three sets of parents today to let them know exactly what is going on and how the school system will proceed.
Broome said all teachers have to pass a S.C. State Law Enforcement Division background check before being hired. "Mr. Heath had no criminal record," Broome said. "Otherwise, he would never have been hired."
Broome added that Heath is chorus director for the school, but was not involved in any other activities at the school, such as advisor to classes where he would have private contact with students.
"Heath has had no disciplinary problems of any kind before Monday's incident," Broome said.
Heath has been accused of planting a video camera inside a box on a table in a girls bathroom near his music room. Sgt. Bobby Steen said Monday the investigation began after an off-duty officer from the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office, who was working security at the Broad River Greenway in Boiling Springs, noticed Heath videotaping sunbathers at the park. Steen said he seized the tape and found the footage from the Blacksburg High School bathroom on the tape.
Following the arrest Monday morning, Cleveland County Sheriff's Office deputies, Blacksburg police and U.S. Customs agents seized a video recorder, tapes and two computers from Heath's home at 308 Waco Road in Kings Mountain.
Steen said Heath gave police consent to search his office at school, as well as his car and home, after his arrest.
"We wanted to seize the computers because Heath said he got the idea of hiding the camera off the Internet," Steen said. Customs agent Jack Barnwell said this morning that he was reviewing the contents of the computers today, adding that additional federal charges against Heath "are a possibility at this time, pending a review of the evidence."
Detective Jamie Ham of Blacksburg police said they took the hand-held video camera and several tapes into evidence, and had a chance to review the tapes Monday night.
"There is a possibility of additional charges," Ham said. "But until we review all the tapes, we can't be sure."
Ham said one of the families of the victims was, very upset Monday at the school.
Ham added that Heath said before a magistrate Monday that he was sorry for what he had allegedly done.
"Heath said he never wanted anybody to get hurt," Ham said.
Heath is single and lives next-door to his father, the Rev. John Heath Sr. His father said he has not seen his son since the arrest, adding that "John has always been a great boy, and a likeable fellow."

THE SHELBY STAR
http://www.shelbystar.com/
Shelby, North Carolina

Female Students Videoed in Blacksburg School Bathroom: Chorus Teacher from Kings Mountain Faces Indecent Liberties Charges

July 13, 1999

By Andrew Dys
Star Staff Writer

BLACKSBURG, S.C. - A 27-year-old chorus teacher at Blacksburg High School was arrested this morning by police for videotaping teen girls in a bathroom at the school, according to Sgt. Bobby Steen of the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office.
Steen, who is assisting in the investigation, said John Edward Heath Jr., 27, of 308 Waco Road in Kings Mountain, was served arrest warrants in the parking lot of the school before classes began on three counts of indecent liberties with a minor, stemming from a taping incident April 1.
"The video camera was placed on a table, and the camera was concealed on the table in a box," Steen said.
Steen said he initiated the investigation in Cleveland County, after a call from concerned citizens who allegedly saw Heath videotaping girls who were lying in the sun at the Broad River Greenway earlier this month.
"After investigating and looking at the videotape from the Greenway, I saw on the same videotape scenes from a school bathroom," Steen said. "The video tape is from the girls bathroom at Blacksburg High School."
Steen said he then called Blacksburg police.
Dr. Buddy Broome, superintendent of Cherokee County Schools, called the incident "horrible and terrible if it's true, just an appalling turn of events. We just can't have people like this teaching our children. We can't have this kind of thing going on in our schools."
Broome said Heath has been suspended with pay until the investigation is completed.
"Under South Carolina law, all I can do right now is suspend him with pay. But if these charges are true, I intend to recommend he be terminated as soon as possible," Broome said. He said Heath has been with the school system for two years and that Heath has had no previous disciplinary problems.
Broome said he was told that the investigation started in North Carolina, and led to Blacksburg High School.
"Police told the school principal, who in turn called me," Broome said. "But I want to let parents know that we are taking this situation very seriously, and doing all we can to cooperate with police."
Steen said he, Blacksburg Police Chief David Gibson and Detective Jamie Ham were set to interview Heath at the Blacksburg police station today. Steen said a videotape was seized at the school as evidence.
"It is possible that North Carolina charges may be pending," Steen said. "As of right now, even though Heath lives in Kings Mountain, the crime was committed in South Carolina and he will be prosecuted by the Blacksburg police and Cherokee County."
Heath is the son of the Rev. John Edward Heath. Rev. Heath said this morning that his son is single, and lives alone, next-door to him on Waco Road.
"This is a total shock," the Rev. Heath said. "This is the first I have heard anything about anything like this. To my knowledge, my son doesn't even own a video camera."
Steen said after the interview with police today, Heath will be taken to the Cherokee County magistrates office in Gaffney, S.C., where it will be determined if he receives any bond before his first appearance in court.

SPARTANBURG HERALD-JOURNAL (on-line version)
http://www.GoUpstate.com/
Spartanburg, South Carolina

Posted on-line June 16, 1999

Former Blacksburg Teacher Arrested on Federal Child Pornography Charges

By Julie Woodcock

A former Blacksburg High School teacher accused of videotaping three teens in a restroom at the high school has been arrested on federal charges of possessing child pornography.
U.S. Customs agents examining a computer seized from John Edward Heath Jr.'s home found images of child pornography believed to have been downloaded from the Internet, according to Customs agent Jeff Jordan.
Heath, 27, of King's Mountain was indicted on the charges June 9 by a federal grand jury. His bond was set at $50,000 Tuesday, Jordan said. Heath was first charged April 19 with three counts of second-degree exploitation of a minor after police seized a videotape of three girls -- one 13-year-old and two 14-year-olds -- in the girls' restroom at the Blacksburg High gym.
Investigators say Heath, then a chorus teacher, set up a wooden box containing a video camera under a table in the bathroom facing a stall that had no door.
Jordan said agents had no evidence that Heath, who resigned his position with the school April 25, had used the Internet to send photos of the girls. Police discovered the tape after Heath was found videotaping sunbathing students at a local college as he hid in the bushes. After finding the tape, sheriff's deputies in Cleveland County, N.C., searched Heath's home, where they seized the computer and additional tapes. That material was then turned over to U.S. Customs.

SPARTANBURG HERALD-JOURNAL (on-line version)
http://www.GoUpstate.com/
Spartanburg, South Carolina

Posted on May 28, 1999

Holding Fists in Victory, Man Cleared of Murder

By Julie Woodcock

A four-man, eight-woman jury found Napoleon Thompson III, 20, not guilty in the murder of Mary Alice Cashion, 26, Thursday afternoon.
Hearing the verdict, Thompson leapt to his feet and held both fists in the air in a sign of victory until he was told by Judge John Kittredge to sit back down. Thompson had been tried for the same case in March, when the jury deadlocked and a mistrial was declared.
Thompson had been accused of shooting Cashion in the back of the head at her apartment March 2, 1998, after she and another woman smoked $550 in crack cocaine he'd purchased to sell. A parade of witnesses testified that they had seen the two together in the hours before and after the killing.
Thompson was arrested soon after police arrived at Cashion's apartment when he became angry with Cashion's next-door neighbor at Blacksburg's Carolina Townhouse Apartments. Lois Wright accused him of shooting Cashion, saying she saw him walk past her window, then heard someone turn up the radio in Cashion's apartment, followed by a muffled gunshot.
"I denied the allegations from the start," said Thompson after the trial. "I trusted in God, and he saw me through." The verdict left Mary Alice Cashion's mother bitter. "I hope he never kills any of their children," Brenda Cashion said of the jury. "He's a menace to society." "We trusted the system," she continued. "It failed us."
One of the jurors, who asked not to be named, said the jury had no choice in reaching its verdict. "I don't think there was enough evidence," she said. "There were too many holes on the state's side." The juror said she believed the Blacksburg Police Department did not do an adequate job in collecting evidence on the scene immediately following the shooting. However, she said it wasn't easy to reach a not-guilty verdict. "I think he either did it or knows who did it, but we had to base it on the evidence available to us."
Blacksburg Victim's Advocate LouAnn Wright said the Blacksburg department did an excellent job with the case. "I'm very proud of my chief," Wright said. "I don't think they did anything wrong. They crossed all their Ts and dotted their Is." Assistant Solicitor Angela Moss agreed. "Chief Gibson and his team did a very meticulous job. The only thing we lacked was an eyewitness. If there was no eyewitness, there was no eyewitness."
"It's apparent that the jury is saying, when you don't have an eyewitness, and you don't have a confession, you don't have a case," said Blacksburg Police Chief David Gibson. "I just hate it for the victim's family." He said 14 months after the crime, all the evidence still pointed to Thompson.
Thompson's attorney, Bill Rhoden, did not agree. "I thought the verdict reflected the evidence," said Rhoden. "I thought the jury did a good job in listening to the evidence, and I believe they did the right thing." He said he thought the Blacksburg Police Department did not exhaust all the possibilities in determining who killed Cashion. "They decided he was guilty within minutes of the crime, and they never focused their investigation in any other direction. I think that was a mistake."

SPARTANBURG HERALD-JOURNAL (on-line version)
http://www.GoUpstate.com/
Spartanburg, South Carolina

Posted on May 08, 1999

Area Briefs: Blacksburg Man Jailed on Sexual Conduct Charge

A Blacksburg man was charged with second degree criminal sexual conduct after police said he had sex with a 14-year-old girl three times in April.
According to Blacksburg Police Chief David Gibson, the girl's mother became suspicious of Kaleaf Tyrone Taylor, 22, of 107 S. Academy St. after she saw the girl in Taylor's yard.
Gibson said the woman took the 14-year-old home and talked to her. The girl told her mother she had sex with Taylor on April 10, 17 and 24.
The name of the girl is being withheld due to the nature of the incident.
Taylor was arrested Thursday. He was being held Friday afternoon at the Cherokee County Detention Center in lieu of a $5,000 bond.

SPARTANBURG HERALD-JOURNAL (on-line version)
http://www.GoUpstate.com/
Spartanburg, South Carolina

Posted on May 01, 1999

Accused Peeper Released on Bond

By Tom Langhorne

A former Blacksburg High School teacher charged with videotaping teen-age girls in a gymnasium bathroom was released from jail on bond Friday.
John E. Heath Jr., 27, of King's Mountain, N.C., was released hours after a judge reduced his bond from $250,000 to $50,000 Friday morning in Spartanburg. Heath was charged April 19 with three counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor. Circuit Judge Henry Floyd reduced Heath's bond to $50,000 at 100 percent surety, meaning that anyone seeking his release would have to put up property or cash worth that much. Floyd imposed several conditions, among them that Heath may not leave his home except to visit his lawyer or his doctor or to attend church. Heath's bond could be revoked if he enters Cherokee County, where his alleged victims live, Floyd said. The judge said Heath is forbidden to have contact with the teens.
Heath is accused of setting up a hidden camera to videotape the girls' restroom in the Blacksburg High School gym. There are no doors on the restroom's stalls. Investigators said Heath taped three girls -- one 13-year-old and two 14-year-olds -- in April. The three sing in the high school's chorus. Heath had been a chorus teacher for two years before resigning earlier this week.
In court Friday, Heath had the support of his parents and Cherokee County defense attorney Usha Bridges in his bid for freedom. Bridges told Floyd that Heath has no prior criminal record and has cooperated with investigators. Noting that Heath lives near his parents and rents his residence from his father, Bridges said he is not likely to flee the jurisdiction once released on bond. Deputy Solicitor Donnie Willingham did not object to or advocate reduced bond for Heath. Willingham was flanked by a contingent of Blacksburg officials, including Police Chief David Gibson.
Detective Jamie Ham told Floyd he is concerned Heath might flee if released because the suspect is aware of a separate investigation of him by the U.S. Department of Customs. After Friday's bond reduction hearing, Ham said customs has confiscated Heath's computer for a forensic analysis. Customs will investigate anything suspicious that its agents find on the computer, Ham said. "(Heath) has talked to us about (his use of) the Internet," the detective said. "Customs is looking for any violation associated with the transfer of photos. "Our concern locally is that no photo that (Heath) may have taken of any local girls be transmitted on the Internet."
Victim's advocate Lou Ann Wright told Judge Floyd Friday that Heath's alleged victims had wanted to be present, but they are wary of media scrutiny. Heath's case probably will not be tried until September because many cases have been waiting longer, Willingham said. Heath promised Floyd he would not return to Cherokee County if released.

SPARTANBURG HERALD-JOURNAL (on-line version)
http://www.GoUpstate.com/
Spartanburg, South Carolina

Posted on May 01, 1999

Four Charged in Plot to Rob Restaurant

BLACKSBURG -- Four people have been arrested, accused of staging a robbery at a restaurant.
Two employees of Ozzie's Restaurant on 414 Cherokee St. reported an armed robbery at 3:30 a.m. April 15, according to Blacksburg Police Chief David Gibson.
Melissa Dale Deaton, 27, of 257 Tucker Road and Gloria Broome Humphries, 32, of 114 Brull St., reported that a man had entered the store and forced them to open two cash registers and a change drawer.
Gibson said $4,105 was taken. That money hasn't been recovered, but police who followed the robbers' trail with bloodhounds did recover $590. Gibson said he became suspicious of the account after listening to the 911 tape of the women reporting the alleged robbery. He said the women initially gave conflicting descriptions of a bandanna the robber was wearing, then appeared to confer to get their stories straight.
Police administered a polygraph to the two employees Thursday. Gibson said one failed the test and confessed. The others then confessed as well, he said. Gibson said he charged both women with grand larceny.
Also charged were two men who Gibson said helped stage the robbery for the benefit of onlookers. Tamarlane Edward Peterson, 17, of 106 Brull St. and Charles Christopher Cobb, 20, of 232 Sims Road also were charged with grand larceny.
Cobb, Humphries and Deaton were released on bail, Peterson remained at the Cherokee County Detention Center Friday afternoon.

SPARTANBURG HERALD-JOURNAL (on-line version)
http://www.GoUpstate.com/
Spartanburg, South Carolina

Posted on April 28, 1999

Teacher Resigns from Blacksburg

BLACKSBURG - A Blacksburg High School chorus teacher charged with videotaping three teen-age girls in a gymnasium bathroom has resigned, his lawyer says.
Lawyer Usha Bridges hand delivered John E. Heath Jr.'s resignation letter to the Cherokee County School Board Tuesday. School Superintendent Buddy Broome had suspended Heath with pay hours after his arrest on April 19.
Heath, 27, was charged with three counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor after allegedly using a hidden camera to videotape a 13-year-old girl and two 14-year-old girls. Police seized several videotapes, a video camera and computer equipment from Heath's home in King's Mountain, N.C. The U.S. Customs Service is investigating to see if Heath transmitted any pictures of the girls over the Internet.
Heath is being held in the county detention center in lieu of $250,000 bond. A bond reduction hearing has been scheduled for Friday in Spartanburg, Bridges said.

SPARTANBURG HERALD-JOURNAL (on-line version)
http://www.GoUpstate.com/
Spartanburg, South Carolina

Posted on April 23, 1999

Blacksburg Man Holds Hostages in Police Standoff

By Janet S. Spencer

An armed man held two hostages in his barricaded mobile home before releasing them Thursday afternoon after a standoff with law enforcement officers.
Wade Bright, 61, of 104 Brull St. was taken into protective custody after an hour. He allowed his wife, Linda, and another woman to leave the residence about 30 minutes after officers arrived. They were not injured.
Bright, who had threatened to kill the women and officers, was later taken to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C., for psychiatric evaluation, authorities said. "If these situations have to be, this is the way you hope they end -- with no one hurt," Police Chief David Gibson said.
Gibson said a call came in to the police station about 2:04 p.m. that someone needed help at Bright's residence. Officer Sidney Weaver arrived first and saw Bright standing in the doorway. He held a long-barreled gun, one of six weapons officers later took from the house. Weaver could hear Bright screaming profanities. Gibson, Officer Jamie Ham, several other Blacksburg policemen and about a dozen members of the sheriff's emergency response team arrived.
After Bright allowed the two women to leave the residence, he talked to counselors by telephone. Authorities said he was afraid the officers would kill him. Bright requested that Cherokee County Sheriff Bill Blanton park his patrol car between the house and the police officers. At one point, Bright left the doorway and returned wearing a bulletproof vest. Blanton talked to him by telephone, and Bright finally came out. Bright had been armed at times with a pistol and rifle.
When he put the weapons down, Blanton grabbed him. Gibson said family members reported Bright appeared to snap before he took the hostages, and that he had been drinking and was on medication. Bright had nailed the back door of the mobile home shut. Several area residents in the closest houses, which are just off the town's main street, were asked to leave during the standoff as a precaution.

SPARTANBURG HERALD-JOURNAL (on-line version)
http://www.GoUpstate.com/
Spartanburg, South Carolina

Posted on-line April 20, 1999

Police: Teacher Taped Girls in Restroom; Arrest at School Comes After Deputy Seizes Videotape

By Julie Woodcock

A chorus teacher at Blacksburg High School was arrested and charged Monday with videotaping female students in a gymnasium restroom.
John E. Heath, 27, of Shelby, N.C., was arrested when he arrived at school, Blacksburg Police Chief David Gibson said. Heath, who had been a chorus teacher at the school for two years, was charged with three counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor.
He is accused of setting up a camera to videotape the girl's restroom where there are no doors on the stalls and videotaping three girls -- one 13-year-old and two 14-year-olds -- earlier this month. The three sing in the chorus, police said.
Blacksburg police officers searched the school Monday but didn't find anything related to the case. Cleveland County, N.C., sheriff's deputies searched Heath's home and found additional tapes, a computer, a monitor and a printer, but did not yet know their contents, authorities said. Authorities became suspicious after a Cleveland County deputy said he found Heath videotaping sunbathers while hiding in the bushes last week in a park in Boiling Springs, N.C., about eight miles from the school. Heath was not charged because it is not illegal to videotape people in public. The deputy seized the tape, which contained pictures of the girls using the bathroom.
At Heath's bond hearing, victim's advocate Lou Ann Wright told Magistrate Robert Howell that the girls' parents declined to appear at the hearing because of publicity surrounding the case. The families were particularly upset because they knew Heath, Wright said. Asked if he had anything to say, Heath told the judge, "I would like to say I am very sorry, and it was never my intention to hurt anyone."
Superintendent Harold K. Broome said the district has taken its own action against Heath. "We have suspended him with pay, and if it's found that he did these things, we're going to terminate him as soon as we can," Broome said. "We're just appalled at this kind of behavior from one of our employees. He will not be allowed back on school grounds."
Heath's bond was set at $250,000; he was still being held at the Cherokee County Detention Center Monday evening. This is not the first time a Blacksburg High School teacher has been accused of videotaping students without their knowledge.
In 1997, the families of five girls sued the district and former girl's basketball coach Mitch Harris after he admitted taping the boys' locker room -- also used by female students -- in 1993. Harris testified he made the tape in order to catch male students smoking and stealing, but forgot to turn it off when the girls' class began. Candes Gibson, Carly Turner, Brandy Riddle, Amber Parker and Ily Lamb sued for $750,000, but were awarded $2,500 each.

SPARTANBURG HERALD-JOURNAL (on-line version)
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Spartanburg, South Carolina

April 16, 1999

State Line I, Ozzie's Robbed in Blacksburg

BLACKSBURG -- Two Blacksburg businesses were robbed within 30 minutes of each other early Thursday.
Several armed men entered State Line I, a video poker game room, at 2767 E. Cherokee St. at 3:05 a.m. The men took the pistol from a security guard before robbing the business of an undetermined amount of cash, according to employees.
At 3:37 a.m., Ozzie's Restaurant on 414 Cherokee St. also was robbed, according to Blacksburg Police Chief David Gibson.
Gibson said a restaurant employee told police she was held up by two men. The first entered the store while the other waited in the parking lot.
The woman said the robber never showed her a gun, but kept his hand in his jacket as though he was armed. He forced her to open two cash registers and a change drawer then took an undisclosed amount of money.
The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office used dogs to track the men but were unsuccessful.
While the dogs were tracking the men, however, deputies found $400 in bills and coins scattered along the way.

SPARTANBURG HERALD-JOURNAL (on-line version)
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Spartanburg, South Carolina

Posted on March 18, 1999

Judge Declares Mistrial in Cashion Killing

By Benny Lee Smith

Two families exchanged hugs of joy and pain among themselves Wednesday as Judge John Kittredge declared a mistrial in the case of a Blacksburg man accused of killing an acquaintance.
The five men, seven women on the jury deliberated several hours before they agreed they were deadlocked over whether Napoleon "Buster" Thompson III, 19, killed Mary Alice Cashion, 26, on March 2, 1998.
Kittredge said he hopes the case could be heard again sometime during the next criminal court session in May. After the trial was over, Thompson's mother, Vickie Thompson, hugged her sister and other family members. "I just thank God," she said. "I put it in his hands from day one."
On the other side of the courtroom, Cashion's family was angered. "Her life's over and somebody killed her," said Mary Alice Cashion's mother, Brenda Cashion. Cashion and her husband, Larry, have been raising Mary Alice's daughter, Macie, since the slaying. "Apparently justice is not going to be served," she said.
For the first time during the trial, jurors heard testimony from Thompson Wednesday. Thompson said he had known Cashion for about four years and, at times, stayed at her Carolina Townhomes apartment in Blacksburg. He described his relationship with Cashion as not a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship, but one based on an "understanding." Thompson said the last time he saw Cashion alone was about 6:40 the morning she was killed. He said, later that morning, he and a friend found Cashion shot in the back of the head. He said they found Cashion kneeling over a couch and that he picked her up and laid her on the floor. "I knew she was bleeding because I saw blood coming from her mouth and the back of her head," he said. He said he got some of that blood on his hands. Thompson also testified that after he found Cashion, next-door neighbor Lois Wright accused him of killing her. He said he became upset and that he did not shot Cashion.
Police tested Thompson hand's for gun residue later that day, but couldn't find any. Assistant Solicitor Angela claims that gun power wasn't there because Thompson had wiped his bloody hands on one of Cashion's couch cushions. She also claims that Thompson had a motive to kill Cashion before because she had stolen $550 worth of his crack cocaine.
After Wednesday's trial, defense attorney William Rhoden asked the judge if Thompson's bond could be lowered so that he could await his second trial at home in Blacksburg. Kittredge said he wouldn't after Moss claimed he was still a risk to witnesses who had testified in the three-day trial. However, he said if Thompson's new trial was not held in May, that he would lower his bond.

SPARTANBURG HERALD-JOURNAL (on-line version)
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Spartanburg, South Carolina

Posted on March 17, 1999

Witnesses: Thompson Bought Gun Two Days Before Shooting

By Benny Lee Smith

Witnesses testifying Tuesday during the second day of a trial against a Blacksburg man charged with murder said they saw Napoleon "Buster" Thompson III purchase a small handgun two days before one of his acquaintances was found shot dead.
Thompson, 19, is charged with killing Mary Alice Cashion, 26, on March 2, 1998, in her Carolina Townhomes apartment in Blacksburg. At least three people who said they knew Thompson told Cherokee County jurors they saw Thompson purchase either a .25- or .22-caliber handgun two days before Cashion was shot.
The gun Thompson allegedly purchased has not been found. Mark Ellis said he sold a black gun to Thompson and that it was similar to a Sinclair model .25-caliber handgun. Defense Attorney William Rhoden asked Ellis if he was sure about what type of gun it was because statements he made earlier contradicted his testimony Tuesday. Ellis repeated that "it was something like a Sinclair model."
Sandra Martin, who lived in a trailer park behind Carolina Townhomes, said she witnessed the transaction inside of her home. Prosecutors contend that the gun Thompson bought was the same weapon that killed Cashion; however, police have not been able to locate the murder weapon. Also during the trial, other witnesses continued to tell their own versions of what happened the day Cashion was killed.
Martin said she saw Cashion five times that morning. She said Cashion first came over about 7:30 a.m. with one rock of crack, which they smoked along with Martin's boyfriend. After they finished, Martin said Cashion continued to go back and forth to her trailer, each time bringing more crack. "She made about five trips," Martin said. "After the fifth trip (around 10:30 a.m.), I did not see her again." Martin said it wasn't long after Cashion left the last time that she saw Thompson running past her trailer.
Tara Hull, who lived near Cashion at Carolina Townhomes, gave the most emotional testimony Tuesday. Hull said she was home the morning Cashion was killed and that Thompson came over to get her, saying he found Cashion and that something was wrong with her. The two went to Cashion's apartment where she was lying on the living room floor. "I asked her, 'Red, how did you bump your mouth?' Because blood was coming out of her mouth," Hull said. "Red" was the nickname she had given Cashion because of the color of her hair. Hull said Cashion mouthed the words, "Help me, please." Hull said she realized a few minutes later what had happened after Thompson pulled up Cashion's ponytail and pointed out that Cashion had been shot in the back of the head. "I just said, 'Who could have done this'?" Hull said as she began crying loudly.
The trial will continue today at 9:30 a.m.; the prosecution is expected to rest its case today.