A South Carolina church's pastor, academy director, and several elders resigned effective immediately after a registered sex offender was arrested for allegedly volunteering near children, and families filed a $25 million class action lawsuit days later.

Pastor Don Williams, his wife Ginny, Christian academy director Niki Howard, and multiple unnamed elders at Pawleys Island Community Church stepped down Friday evening, notifying the congregation by email. The mass departure came just days after Warren Perry, convicted in 2023 of sexual exploitation of a minor for a crime committed in 2020, was arrested Tuesday afternoon for allegedly violating his probation by working in proximity to children at the church, WBTW News13 reported.

That same Friday, a John and Jane Doe filed a class action complaint in Georgetown County Common Pleas Court on behalf of their minor children and "all others similarly situated." The six-page complaint names both Pawleys Island Community Church and Pawleys Island Christian Academy as defendants and seeks actual and punitive damages exceeding $25 million.

A convicted offender, a church volunteer role, and parents kept in the dark

Perry's criminal history was no secret to the state. He was convicted of sexual exploitation of a minor in 2023 for conduct that occurred in 2020. His probation barred him from working near children. Georgetown County Sheriff's Office investigators contacted the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon, which then arrested Perry on Tuesday afternoon.

What remains unanswered is how Perry ended up volunteering at the church in the first place, and whether leadership knew about his status on the sex offender registry. The lawsuit alleges the church was "negligent, reckless, willful and wanton in the hiring of a known sex offender to supervise and oversee activities which involved the children of the parents and guardians in the class action."

The complaint goes further. It claims the church "intentionally failed to inform the parents that Perry was a registered sex offender and would work closely with their children." If that allegation holds up, it means parents dropped their kids off at church programs without any idea that a man convicted of exploiting a minor was operating nearby.

Churches across denominations have faced similar reckonings in recent years. A Peruvian bishop recently resigned months after sexual abuse allegations surfaced, part of a broader pattern of delayed accountability in religious institutions.

Williams called it a 'season of crisis', then walked away

In the email to congregation members, Williams framed the resignations as a sacrifice meant to let the church recover. He wrote:

"In light of the events of this past week and the concerns surrounding the church, we believe resigning is necessary so that PICC can begin healing and moving forward."

Williams also described church staff as "unfairly caught in the crossfire of this past week." That phrasing raises a question the email did not answer: if staff were innocent bystanders, who made the decisions that put a registered sex offender in contact with children?

The church announced it would cancel services that weekend. In place of a live gathering, it said it would post a recording at 9 a.m. Sunday to share information about next steps. For a congregation reeling from the arrest and the lawsuit, a prerecorded message is a thin substitute for direct answers.

Pastoral resignations under pressure are not rare. One pastor recently left ministry after admitting to an inappropriate relationship, and other cases have tested how congregations handle leadership failures in real time.

Lawsuit accuses church of breaching its duty to protect children

The class action complaint lays out two claims. First, negligence and recklessness in hiring. Second, breach of fiduciary duties owed to families who entrusted their children to the church and its academy.

The complaint's language is blunt. It alleges the church and school "completely disregarded their fiduciary duty and allowed a known sex offender access to their children despite hundreds of years of church history which would dictate to the contrary." That last clause is pointed, plaintiffs are arguing that any church, drawing on centuries of institutional knowledge about protecting congregants, should have known better.

The $25 million figure signals that the plaintiffs' attorneys expect a broad class of affected families. Filed on behalf of unnamed parents and their children, the suit leaves room for additional families to join. How many children had contact with Perry, and over what period, remains unclear from available court filings.

The question of institutional accountability in churches has drawn scrutiny from multiple directions. An Episcopal priest recently fought to keep his ministry after a church panel found him guilty of conduct unbecoming, a case that highlighted how unevenly religious bodies enforce their own standards.

Key questions the resignations do not answer

Williams's email addressed the congregation's pain but left the most important questions untouched. The church has not publicly stated whether its leadership knew Perry was a registered sex offender when he began volunteering. It has not disclosed how long Perry served in his role or what specific duties he performed around children.

No formal response to the class action lawsuit has been issued by the church or its legal representatives. The Georgetown County Sheriff's Office has not indicated whether additional charges beyond the probation violation are forthcoming.

Across the broader landscape of church governance, congregations are grappling with how much accountability leaders owe when safeguards fail. A Southern Baptist pastor recently stepped down voluntarily under very different circumstances, but the underlying tension, the gap between the trust congregants place in leadership and the transparency they receive in return, runs through every case.

Pawleys Island Community Church sits in a small coastal community in Georgetown County, South Carolina. For families in a town that size, the church is not just a Sunday destination. It runs an academy. It shapes daily life. When that institution lets a convicted sex offender near children and then asks for grace on the way out the door, the betrayal cuts deeper than any lawsuit can measure.

Resignations are not accountability. Parents in Pawleys Island deserve to know who knew what, when they knew it, and why nobody told them a man convicted of exploiting a child was standing next to theirs.