SLED investigates incorrect reporting of Kershaw County jail director’s firing

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division said it is investigating allegations of official misconduct involving Tyrell Cato, the new Richland County jail director who was fired from a similar job in Kershaw County earlier this year.

SLED launched its investigation on Saturday, July 30, at the request of Kershaw County Sheriff Lee Boan and Kershaw County Administrator Danny Templar, a SLED spokesperson said. While SLED confirmed the investigation, the agency declined to give details about the allegations.

Templar told The State that they requested SLED investigate after his office was made aware of a discrepancy in documentation provided to the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy, which initially indicated that Cato left his job in Kershaw County voluntarily.

“We believe it was an honest mistake, it wasn’t done maliciously,” said Templar. “[The investigation] was requested in the spirit of transparency.”

Cato was officially fired in May as director of the Kershaw County Detention Center after a female employee in his office accused him of sexual harassment, according to records provided to The State. A grievance committee upheld the firing in June.

Cato’s attorney, Elizabeth Bowen, told The State that the former jail director has denied the sexual harassment allegations against him.

A document initially filed in June with the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy reported Cato voluntarily resigned from the Kershaw County job. On July 29, after information about Cato’s termination became public, the document was amended to say that Cato had been “Discharged/Fired” on May 24.

Boan and Templar requested the SLED investigation the day after the new document was filed.

The SLED spokesperson emphasized that the investigation is in its early stages.

Records indicate that both documents were electronically signed by Ervin Whack, the lieutenant of administration of the Kershaw detention center.

The State has been unable to contact Whack.

On May 24, the day Cato was fired, Whack wrote a letter to the grievance committee saying that he didn’t witness any inappropriate behavior from Cato. The letter, obtained by The State, also attested to Cato’s good conduct and managerial skills.

South Carolina law requires law enforcement to file the date that an employee leaves an agency along with the nature of their separation with the Criminal Justice Academy.

Cato was hired as the head of the troubled Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center in Richland County after serving for three years as the director of the jail in Kershaw County.