(SC)
WIS 10 [Columbia, SC]
May 1, 2026
By WIS News 10 Staff
A Lexington County worship musician is back in jail and facing more child sex charges, according to officials.
The South Carolina Attorney General’s Office said 53-year-old Richard Channing Shealy was arrested Friday and charged with 20 additional counts. Among the new charges are a count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor and four counts of committing a lewd act upon a child.
The attorney general’s office noted the new charges are also based on Shealy’s “alleged acts of sexual assault on a minor.”
Shealy also faces multiple counts of first, second and third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor for allegedly distributing and possessing child sexual abuse material. He was first arrested in March, but later released on bond.
The attorney general’s office said Shealy was denied bond at a hearing after his latest arrest on Friday. Records show he’s being held at the Lexington County Detention Center as of Friday evening.
Warrants from his first arrest state that Shealy allegedly shared files containing child sexual abuse material over the internet three different times in February. Documents also state Shealy reportedly had ten other files containing child sexual abuse material in his possession during a search warrant conducted.
WIS has requested copies of Shealy’s warrants detailing his most recent charges.
As part of his bond, a judge ordered Shealy to have no unsupervised contact with minors except his own children and to have no internet access. He was also ordered not to be within 100 yards of any place where children gather and to inform the court immediately of any change in address.
WIS also discovered Shealy had a website where he accepted bookings as a worship musician and previously served as an interim worship pastor at churches in Lexington.
The website has since been taken down.
He’s also the husband of Beth Shealy, the former vice chair of the Lexington County School District 1 Board of Trustees. She resigned following his arrest.
This is a developing story. Stay with WIS for updates.