Ex-educator Gets 50 Years for Abuse

By Bruce Smith
The Item
June 14, 2012

http://www.theitem.com/news/ap_state_news/article_f610c8bf-a74e-52ac-9a19-860474b6f7e2.html

CHARLESTON - Former teacher and coach Louis "Skip" ReVille was sentenced to 50 years in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to nearly two dozen child sex charges at a hearing where a victim called him "a demon who rapes angels."

ReVille, who worked at schools, camps, churches and recreation programs in the Charleston area, was arrested in October and pleaded to 22 counts involving victims in Charleston, Dorchester and Berkeley counties dating back a decade.

The charges included criminal sexual conduct, committing a lewd act on a minor, criminal solicitation of a minor and dissemination of obscene material. ReVille received 50 years on the most serious charge, first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor, in this case, a boy who was only 10 years old. He could have received life on that charge.

On the other counts, Circuit Judge Markley Dennis handed ReVille sentences ranging from 10 to 20 years, with the terms to run at the same time. ReVille, who is 32, will be 74 before he could possibly be paroled.

The ReVille case, which became public about the same time the Penn State University child sex abuse scandal broke, has attracted national attention. ReVille's victims have brought several civil lawsuits against The Citadel, the state military college where he once worked as a summer camp counselor, and a private school in Dorchester County where he once taught.

The plaintiffs contend that they would not have been abused if ReVille's activities have been reported earlier to police.

"I am sorry for what I have done," said ReVille, standing in a gray striped prison jump suit with his hands shackled. "I want to make it clear to the victims and the parents of the victims and the schools and organizations where I have been that I am entirely responsible for my actions."

He sat with his head bowed as prosecutors read thorough a sordid accounting of abuse at schools, camps, homes and in cars. Prosecutors and victims' attorneys also read 12 letters from victims and victims' family members who said they could not bring themselves to come to court because they were afraid the abuse would be discovered.

The Associated Press does not report the names of abuse victims. All the victims in the proceeding were referred to as John Does.

One victim, identified as John Doe 13, did speak and he glared at ReVille as he approached the rostrum in the courtroom.

"You need to look at me," he said. "Look at me!" ReVille lifted his head and Dennis told the victim, who is now 25, to address the bench.

The victim called ReVille "a demon who rapes angels. Angels, that's what children are." He was abused at 16 and said he wished he had come forward earlier.

"I'm so sorry to everyone here. It could have been stopped in 2003," he said through tears. "I was only 16. I was too afraid. I'm just so sorry for everyone who got hurt."

The victim said the abuse started him on a downward spiral and he used drugs, including heroin, to block the pain and once attempted suicide.

"Thank you for your courage," the judge told him. "Please, please find a counselor. Get you some peace. You deserve it."

The mother of another victim wrote Dennis that the abuse ruined their family.

"I'm afraid to close my eyes because of the horrible images my mind conjures," she wrote. "Mr. ReVille is evil personified."

The judge, a father and grandfather, told ReVille "part of me wants to put you where you could never see daylight."

But he also said "you deserve better than that despite the despicable acts you did" noting that since ReVille's arrest he has cooperated with authorities and never contested the details of the abuse, saving victims from having to relive it at a trial.