WYFF4 Greenville, SC - July 2, 2007

Children's Home Director Accused of Raping Child

GREENVILLE COUNTY, S.C. - Months after two former employees of a children's home were charged in connection with sexual abuse alleged to have occurred at the home in the late '80s and early '90s, another former director has been charged with raping a child at the same home years before. Greenville County sheriff deputies arrested Duain A. Whittemore, 60, former director of Tabernacle Baptist Church's children's home, on Thursday.

A woman, who is now 44, said that when she was 13 years old, Whittemore molested and raped her. The woman contacted the sheriff's office after seeing stories regarding the arrests of two other Tabernacle employees.

Gregory Jones, 50, who lives in Hiram, Ga., is charged with committing lewd acts. The man, who is now 27, told deputies that he was sexually assaulted by Jones. He said that the molestation began when he was 7 and continued for several years. Perry Sims, 58, former director of the home, who lives in Sylacauga, Ala., is charged with child neglect and failure to report child abuse.

Jones and Sims were both released on bond.

Whittemore was taken into custody in Transylvania County, N.C. He is charged with two counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor between 1976 and 1984. He has since been released on bond.

The Greenville Sheriff's Office said they are continuing to look for adults who may have been victimized as children while living at a church home.

Deputies said that there is no indication of any abuse occurring at the home currently.

Investigators said they believe there may be other victims and are asking anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers at 23-CRIME.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19568457/from/ET/

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Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Man arrested in probe of child sex abuse

WSPA News Channel 7 - BlueRidgeNow.com

Duain A. Whittemore

A Henderson County man has been arrested as part of a South Carolina investigation into sexual abuse at a children's home in Greenville County.

Officers with the Greenville County Sheriff's Sex Crimes Unit arrested Duain A. Whittemore, 60, of Jetter Mountain Road, on Thursday in Transylvania County.

Whittemore, who previously worked at Tabernacle Baptist Children's home but was most recently associated with Anchor Baptist Church in Pisgah Forest, was charged with two counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor between 1976 and 1984 when he served as director of the children's home.

In April, two men who lived at the Tabernacle Baptist Home came forward saying a former counselor sexually abused them 20 years ago.

Gregory Lane Jones is the former counselor charged with committing those lewd acts. Perry Franklin Simms, the former director of the home, is charged with child neglect and failure to report abuse.

Whittemore has since been released on bond and has a hearing on the case scheduled for later this week.

http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20070703/NEWS/707030321/1042/NEWS/NEWS/Man_arrested_in_probe_of_child_sex_abuse

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3rd man charged in children's home probe
Arrests follow abuse investigation at Tabernacle Baptist Church facility

July 2, 2007 – The Greenville News

By Claire Anderson
STAFF WRITER
canderson@greenvillenews.com

A third former employee of the Tabernacle Baptist Church children's home has been charged with sexually abusing two children who lived at the home between October 1976 and October 1984, according to the Greenville County Sheriff's Office.

Duain A. Whittemore, 66, of Hendersonville, N.C., was charged with two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor, according to warrants.

Whittemore was arrested Thursday and was released on bond from the Greenville County Detention Center.

The warrants charge that while Whittemore was director at the children's home that he sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl and a second girl under 16 years old.

In one case, the victim reported the abuse happening from 1976-1979 and another victim said she was abused from 1980-1984, the warrants said.

The latest arrest in the case came after victims saw stories in the media concerning the other abuse allegations and contacted the Sheriff's Office, said spokesman Lt. Shea Smith.

In April, two men were charged in connection with alleged sexual and physical abuse at the home in the mid-1980's and early 1990's, according to warrants.

Gregory Lane Jones, 50, of Hiram, Ga., was charged with two counts of attempting or committing a lewd act on a minor, the warrants said.

Perry Franklin Sims, 58, of Sylacauga, Ala., was charged also with two counts of child neglect and one count of failure to report child abuse, according to warrants.

The warrants charge that Sims, who was director of the home in the mid-1980's and early 1990s, beat two children, causing severe bruising.

The investigation began in April 2006 when a local attorney contacted the Sheriff's Office about a man coming forward about possible sexual abuse, a report said.

The man, now 26, alleged that Jones, a former children's home employee, sexually assaulted him while he lived at Tabernacle in the mid-1980's and early 1990s, the report said.

A second victim said Jones molested him in 1984 when he was 10 years old and said that the abuse continued for four years, a warrant said.

Smith said the investigation is ongoing.

Anyone who has information on the case is asked to call the Criminal Investigations Unit of the Sheriff's Office at 864-467-5240.

http://www.greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070702/NEWS01/70702027

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See also "Men molested, beat children at church home," MSNBC.com, 4/14/2007