A man facing dozens of charges in connection to attempted child sexual exploitation is now out of jail and will spend no time in prison despite his guilty plea this week.
CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - A man facing dozens of charges in connection to attempted child sexual exploitation is now out of jail and will spend no time in prison despite his guilty plea this week.
Edward Borne, who is originally from Texas was slapped with 35 charges in Charleston County in July 2023.
He pleaded guilty to three counts of criminal solicitation of a minor on Monday. The remaining 32 charges were dismissed as part of a plea deal, according to a spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office.
Criminal solicitation of a minor carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison for each count. First-degree attempted sexual exploitation of a minor carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison for each count.
South Carolina Circuit Court judges (along with many other kinds of judges) are elected by the General Assembly (state legislature), not directly by the voters of the state. Some judges are appointed by various commissions and councils. None are directly voted on by the citizens.
I mean I think the intention was the votes go to people who will put competent judges in place rather than for hire judges not so much actually vote for the judges themselves.
“That same judge has come under fire recently for lenient sentences and bond decisions ahead of the state legislature’s judicial selection process, which is currently underway.”
Depends on the court, but for this judge, the primary oversight is that the state legislature in question can replace him and they keep choosing not to.
I don't know what the deal is. Being from SC I'd half expect it if he was rich and had a high profile local lawyer or something. But his attorney appears to have been a public defender as well. Not sure wtf is wrong with the judge.
The judge in this case, Bentley Price, has been found to be unqualified by the state bar association. Unfortunately, this doesn't restrict him from office, where he can continue to let child rapists freely roam the community. This judge also let a murder suspect out on bond who, while awaiting his murder trial, shot a 9 year old. Best I can tell, south carolina doesn't currently have a way to recall judges who, like Bentley Price, are openly in favor of children being raped and murdered, but this bill looks like it would provide the means of doing so. It hasn't been updated since 2021.
Looks like he was ruled unqualified due to his reputation last month but he remains on as a judge until the end of his term... And could remain if the state congress keeps him... But the article paints a picture that that's very unlikely.
So the good news is that the guy seems to be on borrowed time, the bad news is that he's got a history of letting monsters back out on the street.
Not to defend this creeper but this is clickbait outrage. He was sentenced to time served. The article fails to mention how long that was. Is very normal for someone jailed awaiting trial or jailed while awaiting sentencing to get credit for that time.
It also seems like pretty clear overcharging by the police. Sounds like they charged him with one count for every message he sent, and then also tried to charge both the attempt and the completed crime of solicitation.
Borne solicited someone he believed was underage for sex and encouraged them to make child sex abuse material
So he got stung by a cop pretending to be a kid. Eh. I'm fine with not having tax dollars pay for his room and board if there wasn't any actual harm committed. The guy knows he's going to be under a microscope for the rest of his life, so I doubt he'll ever try this again.
That assumes that this person is capable of normal decision-making abilities in the first place. Judging by the fact that he got hit with 35 child solicitation charges to begin with, I'm not gonna hold my breath on him not becoming a repeat offender.