Sheriff: S.C. soldier, cheerleading coach had sex with high school students, won't be charged

Friday, January 26th 2007, 5:39 pm

By: News On 6

GREENWOOD, S.C. (AP) _ A National Guardsman who recruited at a high school and a former cheerleading coach are both accused of having sex with students, and the principal is charged with hindering the investigation, authorities said.

Former Ware Shoals High School coach Jill Moore, 28, took cheerleaders to a motel, where they met guardsmen for sex, according to Greenwood County sheriff's reports released late Thursday.

Moore, a married mother of two, also is accused of having sex with a male student on a different occasion, according to the reports.

Because all the students involved were 16 or older, none of the adults will be charged because the teens were old enough to consent under state law, according to the sheriff's reports.

Moore, however, is charged with supplying alcohol and cigarettes to students and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. She resigned this month.

Principal Jane Blackwell also is accused of telling cheerleaders and a school staff member not to talk about the allegations against Moore, authorities said. She was charged Monday with obstruction.

Two soldiers were suspended as part of the National Guard's investigation. The Guard said in a news release Friday that its investigation was continuing.

The sheriff's reports state Moore was having an affair with Sgt. 1st Class Thomas Fletcher, 29, whom she met through the school. Moore and Fletcher had sex at a Guard Armory in Greenwood, according to the reports.

Last year, Moore told two cheerleaders she was taking them to visit a prospective college, the reports said. Instead, they went to a motel where she met Fletcher in one room, and gave the cheerleaders vodka and put them in a room with Sgt. Jeremy Pileggi, according to the reports.

Pileggi, 21, acknowledged having sex with a cheerleader last year, and one of the cheerleaders said she watched Moore and Fletcher have sex, according to the reports. At least one of the cheerleaders said Moore picked up alcohol for them, the reports said.

The coach and the principal have denied the allegations.

If convicted of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, Moore could face up to a $3,000 fine and three years in prison. She could face a fine up to $200 and 30 days in jail on the supplying alcohol charge. Blackwell faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted, a sheriff's official said.

If the military probe confirms police findings, the soldiers could be charged under the State Military Code and punishments could range from confinement, a bad conduct discharge to a fine, according to the Guard.

``This type of misconduct is intolerable and we are currently reviewing recruiting policies,'' said Maj. Gen. Harry B. Burchstead, the state's deputy adjutant general.

Moore and Pileggi did not immediately respond to phone messages left by The Associated Press.

A woman answering Fletcher's phone said, ``He can't talk right now,'' and hung up.

Ware Shoals is about 80 miles northwest of Columbia.