Ex-NC cop skips court, loses plea deal for sex crimes with Fort Mill church youth group
A South Carolina judge on Thursday ordered the arrest of a former North Carolina police officer charged with sex crimes involving boys from a Fort Mill church after the ex-cop failed to show up for court.
Erickson Douglas Lee, 26, worked as a police officer in Cornelius, N.C., which is north of Charlotte, before he was fired in 2023 after his arrest. He’s accused of improperly touching minors, giving them alcohol and having nude parties at his Fort Mill home while volunteering with a youth group from 2020 to 2023 at Morningstar Fellowship Church.
Lee posted bail soon after his arrest in May 2023. He made an agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty Thursday in court to five charges for a sentence of eight years in prison, prosecutor Hannah Woods told Judge Dan Hall in court. Alleged victims in the case, family members and friends also were in court for the hearing.
But Lee did not show up. So, Hall signed a bench warrant for Lee’s arrest late Thursday afternoon. And the plea deal is off the table with Woods’ no-show, Woods told Judge Hall.
The warrant means any law enforcement officer can take Lee into custody, Woods said.
Fred Davis, Lee’s defense attorney from the York County Public Defender Office, said in court he spoke to Lee weeks ago and told him to be in court Thursday morning. Davis told Hall he couldn’t reach Lee by phone on Thursday.
Lee has not been convicted of any crimes connected to the case.
He still faces 11 charges, including four counts of contributing to the delinquency of minors, four counts of disseminating obscenity to minors, first-degree assault and battery, second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor, and third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor, court records show.
The individual charges carry three to 20 years in prison for a conviction.
Morningstar CEO Rick Joyner told the Herald said church officials contacted law enforcement in 2023 when allegations against Erickson Lee, the former church volunteer, were brought to the attention of church leaders. He said the church is committed to making sure people associated with the church are safe.
“Something really bad happened to those boys and we have searched and investigated every way we could,” Joyner said Wednesday. “We are disturbed too, we feel for the families, they are families in our church.”
Lawsuits filed by victims against Morningstar, others
Three of the people Lee allegedly abused also filed civil lawsuits against Lee, Morningstar Fellowship Church and church leadership, including Joyner, York County court records obtained by The Herald show.
The lawsuits allege negligence, civil conspiracy and other claims because Lee was a volunteer over the ‘Youth Special Forces’ group at the times of the abuse. One suit was filed in August, and the other two were filed Tuesday and Thursday of this week.
Civil lawsuits and the criminal case are separate.
The lawsuits filed by Rock Hill attorneys Randall Hood and Chad McGowan on behalf of the minors alleges Lee and the other defendants tried to cover up the abuse.
Joyner told church members Sunday during services a lawsuit had been filed but “the accusations in the lawsuit were wildly untrue,” according to a Youtube video posted of the service.
Joyner said Wednesday in a telephone interview with The Herald he had seen the August lawsuit. He reiterated what he said Sunday to parishioners — that much of what is alleged in the lawsuit, including claim of cover-up and participation by church leaders, staff or other members is not true.
Joyner said church officials remain committed to finding the truth.
This story was originally published September 5, 2024 at 5:55 PM with the headline "Ex-NC cop skips court, loses plea deal for sex crimes with Fort Mill church youth group."
