SC lawmaker holds hearing on sex offender housing
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A Richland County lawmaker is holding a hearing on the concerns about where 40 sex offenders are living.
Rep. Joe McEachern says he’s not happy that the offenders are being held in the old Crafts-Farrow State Hospital north of Columbia. McEachern planned a hearing Monday night at a campus of Midlands Technical College.
He says a recreation center that attracts hundreds of children is near the hospital, as is a child development center and a church.
State officials say no inmate classified as a violent sexual predator has escaped from the facility since it began receiving such offenders several years ago.
The Mental Health Department says the facility has a security fence and the building has a number of security features, including guards inside and outside the building. .
