Judge grants bond for security guard

Ledger Staff Writer

A Circuit Court judge granted bond for a school security guard who was arrested recently by city police and accused of touching a juvenile girl inappropriately while at the Cherokee County Alternative Education Center.

Donald Ray Coyle, 38, of 113 Old Plantation Road, Gaffney, has been released from the Cherokee County Detention Center after being charged with lewd act on a minor by Detective Sgt. Christy Poole of the Gaffney Police Department.

Coyle requested that his bond be reconsidered by Circuit Court Judge J. Derham Cole after it had been denied by a magistrate judge. Cole granted Coyle a $7,500 surety bond. Coyle must remain at home unless he is working, according to the judge’s orders.

Coyle was working at the education center at 130 Leadmine Road when a female student younger than 16 years old began to have an asthma attack. Coyle, who is trained as a medical first responder, was allegedly attempting to treat the young girl while waiting for medics to arrive.

On Jan. 12 a teacher at the school told an Upstate Carolina Medical Center paramedic the girl had complained that Coyle touched her inappropriately, a report at the Gaffney Police Department states. The medic, James Bolton, contacted the Gaffney Police Department from the hospital.

Coyle had also previously served with the Asbury-Rehobeth Volunteer Fire Department.

According to Johnny Huffstepler of Summit Security of South Carolina, 214 W. Birnie St., Gaffney, Coyle’s future employment with the company depends on the outcome of the case.

“I really don’t know the full details,” Huffstepler said Tuesday. “I won’t work him in the schools anymore. I’ll put him somewhere else. He is innocent until proven guilty, though.”