SLED charges former Georgetown County sheriff's investigator with assault and battery (2024)

CONWAY — State authorities arrested a former Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office investigator June 4 on a charge of first-degree assault and battery.

Everest “Hank” Carrison II, 40, was booked at the J. Reuben Long Detention Center shortly after 11:30 a.m. and released about five hours later a $5,000 surety bond.

The assault happened Feb. 3 after Carrison and a female sheriff’s office employee had been drinking at a hotel following the agency’s polar plunge event, according to an arrest warrant. He offered to give a ride to the coworker because she was intoxicated.

When they reached their destination in Horry County, he took her inside and stayed for over an hour, according to the warrant. Carrison injured the victim “with lewd and lascivious intent” by rubbing her without her consent, the warrant stated. SLED agents took the victim’s statement and collected surveillance video.

SLED has been working the case since Feb. 5 when Sheriff Carter Weaver asked the agency to investigate allegations of criminal sexual conduct involving off-duty personnel. That same day, Carrison was placed on paid administrative leave, according to sheriff’s office records.

Sheriff’s office spokesman Jason Lesley refused to answer any questions about the case, including whether Carrison resigned or was terminated.

But the S.C. Criminal Justice Academy's records indicate Carrison was fired a day before his arrest because of the pending charges.

During Carrison’s bond hearing, the victim requested a no-contact order and said she believed that, due to his work as a police officer, he was a danger to the public.

Carrison had worked for the sheriff’s office for nearly 10 years, steadily moving up the ranks.

He was hired as a deputy in October 2014, became a corporal in the investigations division in 2015 and was promoted to sergeant in the same division in 2019, according to his personnel file, which was released in March after a public records request from The Post & Courier.

Before he was placed on administrative leave, Carrison had rarely faced department discipline.

In 2020, Carrison was cautioned after a social media conversation between the investigator and a citizen was forwarded to Weaver, according to sheriff’s office records. A copy of the posts wasn’t included in Carrison’s file, but a separate report noted that he had made comments about the citizen’s prior criminal charges and civil issues. Carrison’s supervisors didn’t find anything “criminal” or immoral” in the posts, but they viewed them as “a distraction and negative reflection upon the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office,” the report stated. Carrison assured them he wouldn’t make such a post again.

In 2016, he also received two written reprimands. One was for holding a warrant after he had been told to provide it to the proper staff, and the second was for divulging information about an ongoing investigation without proper authorization, according to sheriff’s office reports.

Prior to joining the sheriff’s office, Carrison worked for the Pawleys Island Police Department for six months, according to S.C. Criminal Justice Academy records.

Before that, he worked for the Myrtle Beach Police Department from May 2011 through November 2013. Carrison resigned from the MBPD, but records show his departure was not connected to any misconduct.

The case is being prosecuted by the S.C. Attorney General’s Office. Fifteenth Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson said he asked the AG’s office to handle the prosecution because he had worked closely with Carrison, who had been assigned high-profile cases such as the murder of Britanee Drexel, and wanted to avoid the appearance of impropriety.