Southeast
South Carolina agency gave child to 'monster,' according to lawsuit
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
A South Carolina state agency that’s supposed to protect vulnerable children left a teenage girl “in the hands of a monster,” according to a lawsuit.
Gregg Martin, a suspected predator facing over a dozen sex crime charges since 2022, allegedly groomed his victim, pumped her full of drugs and mentally and physically abused her for six weeks, the lawsuit says.
The legal action targeted the state’s social service department and individual caseworkers for allegedly ignoring the victim’s mother’s “repeated requests” to remove her daughter from the home — even before the sexual abuse allegations came to light — and failing to ensure the Martin home was a “safe environment.”
“What that child suffered at the hands of a monster was just incredible,” the family’s lawyer, Debra Butcher, told Fox News Digital.
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Fox News Digital sent South Carolina’s Department of Social Services a list of questions, but a spokesperson declined to comment.
“DSS does not comment on pending litigation or cases involved in litigation,” a spokesperson said in an email.
Martin, 56, was arrested by the Richland County Sheriff’s Office in South Carolina as recently as March on warrants for alleged sex crimes against a minor in Gwinnett County, Georgia.
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The Peach State criminal charges include use of computer services to seduce, solicit, lure or entice a child to commit illegal acts; electronically furnishing obscene material to minors and obscene internet contact with a child. That brings the total of criminal charges to 14 in South Carolina, most of which stem from the alleged abuse of the teenager in his care in 2022, plus at least three in Georgia, according to court records.
A judge revoked Martin’s bond in mid-April, and he’s being held in a Richland County jail. His lawyer couldn’t be reached for comment.
The teenager was initially removed from her home by the Department of Social Services as it investigated allegations of abuse and neglect against the girl’s father.
She was sent to live with Martin, who was family of the victim’s best friend, despite her mother’s objections, according to a lawsuit filed in South Carolina in February by the Foster Care Abuse Law Firm.
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But the victim’s family believed it couldn’t say no after Protective Services allegedly “threatened” to place her in foster care and essentially strong-armed them into signing a safety plan.
A safety plan, also known as an alternate living arrangement, typically places a child with another relative or close family friend during an abuse investigation, one of the family’s lawyers, Robert Butcher, explained to Fox News Digital.
In this case, the state placed her in the hands of Martin for about five to six weeks.
During that time, no one from the agency checked on her, according to the lawsuit, which allowed Martin to allegedly shoot explicit photos of his victim and abuse her, Debra Butcher said.
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“DSS (Department of Social Services) not once came out to that home,” Butcher said. “All these five weeks or so, her mom kept saying, ‘My husband can move out of the house. We can put her with a relative. We put her with a neighbor. … We don’t want her to stay there [in the Martin home].’”
This was even before the criminal allegations bubbled to the surface.
Texts between the mom and a caseworker, exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital, allegedly show how hard the teen’s mom fought to get her daughter back.
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In multiple texts from late February to mid-March 2022, the victim’s mom said her daughter’s father would move out if her daughter could return home. She also left voicemails, Debra Butcher said.
“I have been trying to communicate with you since 2/23 and have not yet heard from you,” the mom texted the caseworker. “Is everything ok? I’m concerned by the lack of communication.”
Another week passed without an answer. Again, the victim’s mom texted the caseworker and begged her to respond.
“I don’t understand the delay in this and why no one is calling us and responding to our requests,” her mom said in a text.
After about a dozen messages — most of which went unanswered — the caseworker said they couldn’t remove the victim from Martin’s home because the paperwork was already signed.
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About six weeks after protective services left the victim with Martin, a new caseworker took over and moved the child out of Martin’s house, Debra Butcher said, and the victim and her mom were finally able to talk “freely.”
That’s when “the child disclosed what happened,” Debra said, and Martin was arrested shortly thereafter.
The trauma still haunts the victim more than two years later.
“She spoke about this, probably two weeks ago. And when she finished, she had to get up and leave and was in tears and shaking,” Debra said. “It’s still very traumatic for her.”
Pervasive exams that ‘make children feel like they’ve been raped’
The Foster Care Abuse Law Firm has three — soon to be four — other lawsuits alleging the state agency conducted unnecessary, invasive exams on children under the guise of checking to see if children were sexually abused.
But there were no allegations of abuse, or physical symptoms to suggest sexual trauma, according to the lawsuits.
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All the legal actions against two groups and four doctors were filed in South Carolina as recently as May 15 and reviewed by Fox News Digital. Robert said a fourth lawsuit is in the works but hasn’t been filed yet.
The language and allegations are similar in each lawsuit, and the victims are young girls and boys.
The legal action includes serious allegations the lawyers said is “essentially rape,” and asks the courts to stop the defendants “from performing unnecessary and intrusive pediatric genitourinary exams … when there are no allegations, or even suspicions of sexual abuse. … As a direct result of longstanding, well-documented failures of defendants … children … have been and continue to be harmed physically, psychologically and emotionally and continue to be placed at ongoing risk of such harm.”
Robert Butcher said it’s concerning there are “possibly hundreds of thousands of images of children’s genitalia” in the possession of Prisma Health, which was named as one of the defendants.
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Prisma Health said it does not comment on ongoing litigation.
The alleged exams described by the Butchers are graphic and disturbing. Their bodies are exposed and physically probed, according to the lawyers.
“Sometimes, in the process of wanting to do good, some of these folks are doing harm to these kids,” Robert Butcher said.
“This is sexual abuse,” Debra Butcher said.
Each of the lawsuits implores the courts to prohibit the Department of Social Services and Prisma Health from performing these types of exams without allegations.
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Southeast
Lara Trump removes herself from consideration for Marco Rubio’s US Senate seat
Lara Trump, President-elect Trump’s daughter-in-law, said Saturday she is removing herself from consideration for Florida Republican Marco Rubio’s seat in the U.S. Senate.
“After an incredible amount of thought, contemplation, and encouragement from so many, I have decided to remove my name from consideration for the United States Senate,” she wrote on X Saturday.
The president-elect has nominated Rubio to be secretary of state.
“I could not have been more honored to serve as RNC co-chair during the most high-stakes election of our lifetime and I’m truly humbled by the unbelievable support shown to me by the people of our country, and here in the great state of Florida,” Lara Trump added.
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Trump, the wife of Eric Trump, the president-elect’s son, stepped down as co-chair of the Republican National Committee earlier this month.
” I have read so many of your kind messages and I cannot thank you enough,” Lara Trump said, adding she has a “big announcement that I’m excited to share in January.”
She said she remains “incredibly passionate about public service and (looks) forward to serving our country again sometime in the future. In the meantime, I wish Governor DeSantis the best of luck with this appointment.”
The president-elect had previously pressed DeSantis to name Lara as Rubio’s replacement, a source in his political orbit told Fox News Digital, but he later told reporters he didn’t necessarily expect him to select her.
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“That’s his choice,” the president-elect added.
Rubio’s senate replacement will be appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and will serve the remaining two years of Rubio’s term.
In 2026, the seat will be open for a full six-year term.
Lara Trump had previously said she was “seriously considering” the position, although she wasn’t sure it was right for her.
DeSantis previously said he would make an appointment by early January.
Lara Trump did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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Southeast
Florida driver hits student with her truck, covers license plate before fleeing, deputies say
A Florida woman was arrested after she allegedly struck a teenager who was crossing the road with her truck, covered her license plate and sped off.
Sarah Wright, 37, was arrested Thursday and charged with leaving the scene of a crash with injuries and driving with a suspended license.
The crash happened shortly before 4 p.m. at the intersection of Gage Avenue and Noah Street in Deltona, Florida, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.
The victim, a 16-year-old boy, was riding his scooter home from Pine Ridge High School when he was struck by a black Chevrolet Silverado as he was using the crosswalk, the sheriff’s office said.
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The teenager fell to the ground, resulting in a serious laceration to the back of his head as well as an arm injury, but he remained alert and conscious after the incident.
A witness reported that she was checking her mailbox nearby when she heard the crash. She told investigators that the suspect, later identified as Wright, exited her truck after the crash and checked on the boy before she went back to her vehicle and covered her license plate with paper and tape.
But the witness still managed to see the first character of her tag. A neighborhood Ring camera also captured the truck fleeing the scene.
The victim and the witness were also able to provide a detailed description of the suspect.
Officials were then able to locate a suspect vehicle captured on a nearby License Plate Reader camera within minutes.
Wright was found in Flagler County and taken into custody with assistance from Florida Highway Patrol and the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
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She was booked into the Flagler County Jail on a $3,500 bond.
The teenage victim required staples for the laceration and treatment for his arm injury, but he is expected to make a full recovery.
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Southeast
Drone mishap during Orlando holiday aerial show sends child to hospital
A child was hospitalized on Saturday after being hit by a drone that was part of an Orlando, Florida holiday drone show.
According to the Orlando Fire Department, a 7-year-old boy was transported to the hospital because of injuries sustained from the falling drones, FOX 35 in Orlando reported.
In a video posted online by X user MosquitoCoFl, hundreds of drones being used as part of an aerial light show appeared to be flying into position before several started falling from the sky before slamming to the ground.
A man could be heard saying to children nearby, “Oh no! I don’t believe they’re supposed to be falling.”
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Geese also appear on the water, flapping their wings to try and get out of the way of the chaotic scene.
City officials told the station the holiday drone show was permitted by the FAA.
Still, after one drone show went wrong, the city chose to cancel the second that night at 8 p.m. due to “technical difficulties.”
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The FAA told Fox News Digital it will investigate the cause of the drone show malfunction.
“Several small drones collided and fell into a crowd during a holiday drone show over [Eola] Lake in Orlando, Florida,” the FAA said. “The incident occurred around 6:45 p.m. local time on Saturday, December 21.”
According to the agency, drone arrays and light shows are subject to FAA regulations and typically require a waiver to a regulation that prohibits operating more than one drone at a time.
For each drone show application, the FAA looks at things like the software controlling the drones, procedures for setting up safe and restricted areas to keep people a safe distance from the show, procedures if drones fail, and procedures for when an aircraft gets too close to the show.
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Additionally, the FAA reviews how the operator will keep the drones inside a confined area using Geofencing, and whether the operator has an adequate number of people to run the show.
For the second year, the City of Orlando used Sky Elements Drones as its vendor to operate the drones, the station reported.
Sky Elements Drones did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the matter.
In a statement to Fox 35, the vendor said, “Sky Elements Drones wants to extend our sincere hope for a full and speedy recovery to those impacted at our Lake Eola show in Orlando on Saturday, Dec. 21.
“The well-being of our audience is our utmost priority, and we regret any distress or inconvenience caused,” the company continued. “We are diligently working with the FAA and City of Orlando officials to determine the cause and are committed to establishing a clear picture of what transpired. Millions of people see our shows annually, and we are committed to maintaining the highest safety regulations set forth by the FAA.”
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