COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina National Guard suspended two high school recruiters in the case of a cheerleading coach charged with giving students beer and the principal accused of trying to cover it up.
Guard spokesman Tripp Hutto said the soldiers have not been charged but were placed on leave pending the investigation. He would not give further details, including the soldiers’ names or genders.
Ware Shoals High School cheerleading coach Jill Moore, 28, resigned last week after she was charged with transfer of alcohol to an underage person and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
On Monday, principal Jane Blackwell, 59, [pictured] was charged with hindering the Greenwood County sheriff’s investigation. Deputies have said Blackwell told the cheerleaders not to speak to anyone about the case.
Blackwell and Moore have denied the allegations.
The soldiers recruited at 13 schools including Ware Shoals and Lander University, Hutto said.
Back story: COLUMBIA, S.C. — A South Carolina National Guardsman who recruited at a high school and a former cheerleading coach each are accused of having sex with students, and the principal is charged with hindering the investigation, authorities said.
Former Ware Shoals High School coach Jill Moore, 28, took cheerleaders to a motel, where they met guardsmen for sex, according to Greenwood County sheriff’s reports released late Thursday.
Moore, a married mother of two, also is accused of having sex with a male student on a different occasion, according to the reports.
Because all the students involved were 16 or older, none of the adults will be charged because the teens were old enough to consent under state law, according to the sheriff’s reports.
Moore, however, is charged with supplying alcohol and cigarettes to students and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. She resigned earlier this month.
Principal Jane Blackwell also is accused of telling students and a school staff member not to talk about the allegations against Moore, authorities said. She was charged Monday with obstruction.
Two soldiers were suspended as part of the National Guard’s investigation. The Guard said in a news release Friday that its investigation was continuing.
The sheriff’s reports state Moore was having an affair with Guardsman Thomas Fletcher, 29, whom she met through the school.
Last year, Moore told two cheerleaders she was taking them to visit a prospective college, the reports said. Instead, they went to a motel where she met Fletcher in one room, and gave the cheerleaders vodka and put them in a room with Guardsman Jeremy Pileggi, according to the reports.
Pileggi, 21, acknowledged having sex with a cheerleader last year, and one of the cheerleaders said she watched Moore and Fletcher have sex, according to the reports.
The coach and the principal have denied the allegations.
Moore and Pileggi did not immediately respond to phone messages left by The Associated Press.
A woman answering Fletcher’s phone said, “He can’t talk right now,” and hung up.