Jamel Bradley: Bond set at $10,000, ordered to wear GPS monitoring device
The judge also mandated a no-contact order and for Bradley to stay 1,000 yds from the victim
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) —A former USC basketball player and Richland County deputy charged with third degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor appeared in court Thursday afternoon.
A Richland County judge set bond for Jamel Bradley, who was arrested Wednesday, at $10,000.
Alongside the $10,000 bond, Bradley has to wear a GPS monitoring device and remain 1,000 yards away from the victim.
On Wednesday, Sheriff Leon Lott addressed the allegations, saying it’s disgusting that one of his deputies engaged in inappropriate behavior with a student.
“We had a monster that worked among us. To go out here and have an inappropriate relationship with a student, that makes me sick to my stomach,” said Sheriff Lott.
Bradley had been a deputy with the Richland County Sheriff’s Department since 2007, recently serving as the School Resource Officer at Spring Valley High School.
He was fired from his post on October 31 for interfering with an ongoing investigation, according to Sheriff Lott.
The Sheriff’s Department learned of a potential victim on November 15, and after learning he engaged in sexual activity with her in 2018, arrested him at his home on Wednesday.
“It’s to find words to describe the emotions I have. Anger, sadness, that it happened. It’s really just, you say you’d want to strangle or shoot somebody, I’d love to do that, but that’s not something that we can do. We’re professionals who don’t do that. We’ve got to do what our job is, and that’s to bring somebody to justice who violated that trust,” said Sheriff Lott.
The victim and her family were in the courtroom. A victim’s advocate said that the victim feels very traumatized by the experience and that she wants to stay far away from Bradley.
“I apologize to the victim, to her parents, to this community. I’m sorry that we had someone who I call a sexual predator,” Sheriff Lott said.
Bradley will appear before a Circuit Court judge on December 9 at the Richland County Courthouse.
