Nathaniel Cary

ncary@greenvillenews.com

A registered sex offender went as a chaperone on a fifth grade field trip to Charleston with Woodland Elementary School, the Greenville County School District said.

The chaperone's status as a sex offender was discovered after an anonymous phone tip to the school district, said Beth Brotherton, school district spokeswoman.

All volunteers and chaperones must undergo a background check and the school district is still investigating how a known sex offender was allowed on the trip, she said.

The chaperone was a parent of one of the students, she said. The school district declined to release his name.

"There is no way, according to our policy, that this should have happened or been allowed to happen," Brotherton said. "There is a thorough investigation being conducted as to who let this slip through the cracks."

The district didn't say Wednesday evening whether any personnel would face discipline in the incident.

Fifth-grade students left from Woodland Elementary at 7 a.m. Tuesday, Brotherton said. The district received the phone tip between 12:30 p.m.-1 p.m. while the class was making its first stop at Patriots Point in Charleston, she said.

The school principal checked the sex offender registry and called the Charleston Police Department, which confirmed the chaperone's status on the South Carolina sex offender registry, she said.

The principal asked police to be waiting when the students arrived at their hotel to check in, she said.

The hotel held his key until last until all of the students could be checked in and into their rooms, she said.

"At the point he is the last one to come up to the hotel desk, he is met by a Charleston Police officer and given a call by the principal," she said.

The man was escorted from the hotel and picked up and driven home Tuesday, she said.

The chaperone was never alone with a student, she said.

Greenville County Schools is investigating how it failed to identify the chaperone's status as a sex offender so it can correct any error in following its protocols, she said.

Registered sex offenders are not permitted to serve as volunteers or chaperones in Greenville County Schools, she said.

"We are extremely concerned that this individual was allowed to participate in this field trip," Brotherton said.

Students will continue with their field trip as scheduled, she said. They were scheduled to return on Thursday.

4 middle school students charged after video of sex assault shared, police say

Arrest made after bicyclist struck by van