PAWLEYS ISLAND (SC)
WPDE - ABC 15 [Conway SC]
July 15, 2026
By Kara Riskus
ngry church members confronted their pastor during a heated meeting after learning that a registered sex offender had been volunteering at Pawley’s Island Community Church and around children, despite restrictions meant to keep him from being alone with minors.
Church volunteer Warren Perry was convicted in 2023 of sexual exploitation of a minor for a crime committed in 2020, according to the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office.
During the meeting, Pastor Don Williams said Perry’s conviction had been known within church leadership for years.
“Mr. Perry’s conviction was known to me, to several leaders within our church, to our church staff, and to the leadership of the PICC,” Williams said.
Williams also said authorities were aware Perry was volunteering on the campus, which includes a school, and that the church had provided restrictions.
“The county was aware that he was volunteering on our campus, which includes a school, and were given a list of our redemption restrictions as well. Mr. Perry was never to be alone with a child,” Williams said.
Williams said he believed both that children must be protected and that people who have committed serious crimes should still be treated with dignity.
“As Christians, here are two things that we believe to be true at the same time. We believe that children must be protected. I also believe that every person, even someone who has committed a serious crime, is made in the image of God and should be treated with dignity,” Williams said.
Williams said that after he spoke with Perry’s probation officer, he learned Perry was not complying with his conditions.
But Eliza Perez, a teacher at PICC and a member of the congregation, said she believes church and school leadership silenced people who raised concerns after learning Perry had been around children.
“He’s put us in positions, encouraged us to do things for him. Our children sing Happy birthday to him,” Perez said.
Perez said she warned Williams about the danger of having a registered sex offender around children and said she felt her faith was used against her when she raised concerns.
She said she found out he was a sex offender while looking at the registry.
“I said to him, ‘this is really bad. You know, we can’t have a registered sex offender working around our children. This is very dangerous.’ And he said to me, ‘you don’t want to be the type of Christian that would spread this information.’ And that was nail in the coffin. And you use my Christianity against me,” Perez said.
Kaity Mears, a mother who said she was concerned for her child’s safety, said she pulled her child from the school.
She said church leadership, including the director, repeatedly claimed Perry had no contact with children and only worked before and after school hours, but she disputed that.
“Church leadership, including the director, has continually said that, he has no contact with the children, that he only works before school hours and after school hours. But I think we’ve got at least 100 eyewitnesses in the school that can prove that’s not the case, including my children,” Mears said.
Some members said they are now calling for accountability and do not plan to return to the church they once considered home.
Perry was taken into custody after deputies discovered violations.