Man Pleads to Distributing Child Porn
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LOCAL Free domestic violence seminar is on April 14 TUESDAY, APRIL 3, 2018 | Serving South Carolina since October 15, 1894 75 cents A2 Man pleads to distributing child porn It was determined that Derk had Assistant U.S. Attorney William Sumter resident faces 5 to 20 years in prison been uploading and downloading E. Day II, of the Columbia office, is child pornography via his cell- prosecuting the case, and U.S. Dis- BY ADRIENNE SARVIS and internationally. phone and computers after the de- trict Judge Mary Geiger Lewis will [email protected] U.S. Immigration and Customs vices were seized during the inves- impose sentence after reviewing Enforcement noticed that Marlin tigation. the pre-sentence report. A 46-year-old Sumter man plead- Russell Derk posted child pornogra- Derk could face five to 20 years in This case was brought as part of ed guilty on Monday to distributing phy in a chatroom on June 11, 2015, prison with supervised release for Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide child pornography images that according to a news release from five years to life and/or a fine of were shared online between states United States Attorney Beth Drake. $250,000. SEE PLEA, PAGE A7 A hoppin’ good time Swan Lake hosts Easter egg hunt, family fun BY BRUCE MILLS [email protected] t was a day for kids, families and firsts on Saturday morning at Swan Lake-Iris Gardens with Sumter Coun- Ity Recreation Department’s annual Easter egg hunt. About 200 people attended the “It’s a beautiful day.” event, which featured plenty of Five-year-old Kaymond sunshine despite temperatures Hamiln of Sumter was also tak- in the low 50s. ing part in his first Easter egg After initial contests at 10 hunt, with his uncle Bob Bar- a.m. by age group for best Eas- ber nearby. ter bonnet or cap, best Easter Barber said he heard about tricycle and bicycle and best the egg hunt a couple days ago decorated Easter egg, it was on and decided to bring his neph- to the “real show” with the ew. Easter egg hunt by age catego- “This is our Saturday fun ry. day,” Barber said. Three-year-old Anaise Kaymond said he had Holmes of Sumter participated four eggs but in the age 3-4 egg hunt. dropped one, so he After finishing the contest, finished with a net she experienced a first — her three. first photo with the Easter After Kaymond Bunny. returned his eggs In the same age group, Javion and received his Cunningham, 4, of Sumter, col- lected a whopping 26 eggs, SEE EGG HUNT, which tied for first. Javion said PAGE A6 the 26 he gathered up was the most he had ever collected in an Easter egg hunt. In the next age cate- gory, for 6-year-old Gavin Mills, it wasn’t his first Easter egg hunt, but it was his first “competitive one” and first one lo- cally, according to his parents, Luis Lopez and Kasey Mills-Lo- pez. PHOTOS BY BRUCE MILLS / THE SUMTER ITEM The Lopez family is Anaise Holmes, 3, of Sumter, has her picture taken with the Easter stationed at Shaw Air Bunny on Saturday at Swan Lake-Iris Gardens. See more photos from Force Base. They’re the event on A6. new to town, having moved here last sum- mer. A boy picks up an Easter egg during Satur- “We’ve had a good day’s festivities at the gardens. time,” Lopez said. Filing closes for state Horsing around at Carolina Cup A presenter shows off the trophy reserved for the winner of the Colonial Cup race on Saturday. and county elections The Carolina Cup raced into Camden during the weekend, with thousands coming out to the histor- ic Springdale Race Course to pitch a tailgate tent, All incumbents re-running; handful face opposition find their box seats and explore vendor tents amid BY KAYLA ROBINS Congressional Districts cov- a schedule of races throughout the breezy, chilly [email protected] ering Sumter County, Ralph spring Saturday. Saturday’s event marked the first Norman in the 5th District year the Colonial Cup ran during the Carolina Cup Ballots across South Caro- and James Clyburn in the after organizers decided to combine the former, lina were finalized on Fri- 6th District, will not face a which had been a fall event, with the latter. Balance day, and hundreds of candi- primary but will face their the Budget earned the trophy and oversized cham- dates filed by the noon opposing party in Novem- pagne bottle in the day’s feature race, the Colonial deadline for statewide con- ber. Cup, the first Grade 1 race of the National Steeple- stitutional offices, U.S. In the state House of Rep- chase Association season. To watch a Sumter Today House seats, state House of resentatives, all five legisla- episode on the races, go to www.theitem.com/stu- Representatives posts and tors representing Sumter diosumter. See more photos on A6. local races. Both incumbents for the SEE CANDIDATES, PAGE A7 MICAH GREEN / THE SUMTER ITEM VISIT US ONLINE AT DEATHS, B4 WEATHER, A10 INSIDE Jessie C. Alexander Jr. Barbara Ann China WARM AGAIN 2 SECTIONS, 16 PAGES the .com VOL. 123, NO. 118 Mildred Ard C. Brown Alonza L. Conyers Sr. Partly sunny; some clouds Zyon Denise China Johnnie Lee Rose Sr. with a warm breeze tonight Classifieds B6 Opinion A9 Bonnah Mae Ellerbe Almeta C. Burkett HIGH 86, LOW 63 Comics A8 Television B5 June R. Pritchard Elfriede Arndt Little Betty S. Hatfield Adria Dell Stukes Sports B1 A2 | TUESDAY, APRIL 3, 2018 THE SUMTER ITEM Call: (803) 774-1226 | E-mail: [email protected] LOCAL BRIEFS FROM STAFF REPORTS Group holding free domestic Sumter school board changes meeting dates Because of board member violence seminar on April 14 schedule conflicts, Sumter School District has moved up the date for its next board of BY KAYLA ROBINS "The Total Woman violence awareness and provide re- trustees meeting. [email protected] Teaching Series' mission is sources to women in the tri-county The district's scheduled to cultivate the lives of area. April board meeting will occur A tri-county women's group is coming women by empowering "South Carolina is consistently in the on April 10 at the Lakewood to Sumter County next week to hold a them in mind, body and top 10 of states with the highest rate of High School fine arts center. seminar and fashion show aimed to pro- spirit," said Joan Hamp- females killed by males, even coming in Previously, it was scheduled mote awareness and prevention of do- HAMPTON ton, CEO of the organiza- at No. 1 in 2015, according to a report by for April 16. mestic violence. tion. "This includes pro- the Violence Policy Center," the news A district staff member dis- The focus of The Total Woman Teach- viding a safe space for dis- release stated. tributed an agenda for the ing Series' The Total Woman Seminar course on the topic of domestic violence The event is free with reserved seat- meeting late Thursday. and Spring Fashion Show, which is set and how to affects our communities." ing and includes a morning seminar on To stay on a regular two- for Saturday, April 14, from 10 a.m.to 4 Hampton, a former volunteer advo- beauty, health, wealth and spirituality, a week meeting schedule, the p.m. at Good Shepherd Outreach Minis- cate with Sexual Trauma Services of keynote speaker and a fashion show in board's regular monthly work tries at 118 Commerce St. in Sumter, is the Midlands and former Domestic Vio- the afternoon. session will occur on April 23, to decrease the injuries and fatalities re- lence Crisis Shelter manager for the Women interested in attending should according to a district spokes- sulting from criminal domestic violence Young Women's Christian Association contact Hampton at (803) 775-0171 or person. That meeting was orig- in Sumter, Clarendon and Williamsburg of the Midlands Inc., is facilitating the [email protected] by Wednes- inally scheduled for April 30. counties, according to a news release. networking event to promote domestic day, April 9. Pinewood hydrants to be tested in April The Pinewood Fire Depart- ment will be testing water hy- drants in the town of Pine- wood during April. Sumter City Council to review draft budget Sumter City Council will meet at 6 p.m. today in City Council Chambers, fourth floor of Sumter Opera House, 21 N. Main St., to receive a pre- liminary draft budget for fiscal year 2019. Council will also consider second and final reading of an ordinance to transfer a portion of property at the Liberty Cen- ter, 12 W. Liberty St., to a neighboring building so the re- cipient can construct a second entrance and exit. Water hydrant tests set for North Wise Drive The City of Sumter will per- form fire hydrant flow tests on North Wise Drive from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, April 4 and 5. Water customers in the surrounding area may experience tempo- PHOTO BY ARMY SGT. MATT KUZARA / SPECIAL TO THE SUMTER ITEM rary discolored water. U.S. Congressman Ralph Norman meets USARCENT staff members during his briefing session as part of his visit to U.S. Army Central’s Please direct any questions Patton Hall on Friday. Norman took the opportunity to learn about USARCENT’s mission and challenges that the organization faces, or concerns to the City of such as ensuring security of strategic maritime points and issues soldiers face at home.