COLUMBIA (SC)
The Post and Courier [Columbia, SC]
October 22, 2026
By Jordan Lawrence
A Christian worship singer has been hit with a nine-count federal indictment.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina said in an Oct. 21 news release that 54-year-old Richard Channing Shealy was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges for producing, distributing and possessing child sexual abuse material.
The charges follow 33 similar charges brought against Shealy by the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department. At the time of his initial arrest, he was married to the chair of the Lexington One school board.
Who is Richard Channing Shealy?
Before being arrested for charges related to child sexual abuse material in March, Shealy was a Christian worship singer. He was once a guest speaker with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at Gilbert High School, according to a December Facebook post that is no longer available. He served as an interim worship pastor at both Lexington Baptist Church and River District Church in recent years, according to his former website.
As of his initial arrest, Shealy was married to Elizabeth “Beth” Shealy, according to his personal website that is no longer available. She stepped down from her role as vice chair of the Lexington One School Board on March 29 following his arrest.
What has Shealy been charged with?
This week’s federal indictment alleges, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office news release, that Shealy shared child sexual abuse material files with an undercover Homeland Security Investigations agent in February over a peer-to-peer file sharing network.
“After obtaining a search warrant, law enforcement searched Shealy’s home and uncovered more CSAM files on Shealy’s computer,” the release said. “Among the files discovered were pictures of a child that Shealy abused in 2004 and 2006.”
The release added that “Shealy faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison on four counts of producing child sexual abuse material and up to 20 years in federal prison on the distribution and possession charges. Shealy also faces fines of up to $250,000 on each count.”
The charges announced this week are the third round of charges against Shealy related to possessing, distributing and producing child sexual abuse material.
“An investigator in the (state) Attorney General’s Office initiated the case after seeing files shared online,” a May 1 release from that office said. “The Attorney General’s Office referred the case to the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department, which made the arrest in March.”
The sheriff’s department then brought additional charges against Shealy in May, bringing the total to 33, including:
- Two counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor, first degree (a felony offense punishable by 10-30 years “based upon the time the image was created.”)
- Four counts of committing a lewd act upon a child (a felony that carries up to 15 years in prison “based upon the time the act was committed”)
- Ten counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, first degree (a felony offense punishable by up to 20 years in prison on each count)
- Seven counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, second degree (a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years )
- Ten counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor (a felony offense punishable by up to ten years imprisonment on each count)
Jordan Lawrence is the Columbia editor of The Post and Courier. He can be reached at jlawrence@postandcourier.com.