Man Charged for Sex with Special Olympics Athlete

A Hopkins, S.C., man faces charges of rape and criminal sexual contact with a minor after police allege he had sex with a student with special needs who was in town for Special Olympics.

Cornelius K. Davis, 29, is free on bond today after being arrested on Friday at a Mount Pleasant hotel, according to a police report. Davis was in town supervising students who were participating in Special Olympics events.

The victim told her mother and investigators that she had sex with Davis twice, once on Thursday in Cayce, S.C., and again on Friday in Mount Pleasant, according to police reports.

An adult who was staying in the hotel room with the victim, told police that Davis took the girl from her room around 10 p.m. on Friday so she could visit her mother in another hotel. He didn’t bring her back until 2:30 a.m. Saturday.

Davis’s wife told police she began searching for her husband around 1 a.m. when he had not returned to their room, the report states. At 11 a.m. on Saturday, a student told the victim’s mother about the alleged sexual contact.

Text messages on the girl’s phone, some of which contained explicit language and photos, bolstered the claim, and the victim eventually admitted to the contact, a police report states.

Though intercourse was apparently consensual, the victim’s age and delayed mental capacity make the contact illegal. Davis posted a $40,000 bond and was released on Monday after an initial court appearance.

Davis has been suspended from his teaching assistant position at Cayce High School, according to reports. He was a volunteer with the Special Olympics, and had apparently passed all the required background checks.