UPDATE: Board Denies Parole for Columbia Serial Child Molester

Update, 4:20 p.m.: The S.C. Board of Paroles and Pardons has denied parole for a Columbia man convicted of sexually exploiting 17 children, The State reports (subscription required). 

Chuck Sullivan, now 56, is serving a 35-year sentence on charges of fondling, sexual exploitation of a minor and disseminating harmful material to minors.

His crimes involved 17 Columbia-area boys and occurred between the mid-70s and 1997. 

According to the report, Sullivan will be up for parole next year.  

Read more here. 

Original story:A former Columbia youth basketball coach and convicted serial child molester will try to get out of prison early this morning at a parole hearing, according to a report in The State. 

Chuck Sullivan, 53, is serving a 35-year sentence on charges of fondling, sexual exploitation of a minor and disseminating harmful material to minors, according to The State. His crimes involved 17 Columbia-area boys and occurred between the mid-70s and 1997. 

Sullivan has been up for parole several times before, according to The State, but has always be denied.

Read more from The State.