Former cop indicted

A former Gaffney Police Department officer was indicted Tuesday by a grand jury in Cherokee County Court on charges that he engaged in abusive acts towards a young boy, including one alleged incident during which the boy was handcuffed and forced to lie down in a locked closet.

Wilbert Jamison Jr. was named in three direct indictments for unlawful conduct toward a child, as alleged by the South Carolina Attorney General's Office. Attorney General Henry McMaster signed all three indictments placed before the grand jury.

The charges follow a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division investigation that began after an April 25, 2008, complaint of criminal domestic violence was lodged against Jamison with the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office. A woman claimed Jamison had shoved her that day, causing her to hit her head. Because Jamison was a Gaffney Police Department officer, officials at the time said they were referring the matter to SLED.

In addition to the indictments Tuesday, SLED obtained from the Cherokee County Magistrate's Office a warrant for first offense criminal domestic violence for Jamison.

Mark Plowden, a spokesman for the state Attorney General's Office, said Jamison is scheduled for an arraignment in Cherokee County General Sessions Court on Jan. 26 at 11 a.m.

Jamison resigned from the Gaffney Police Department on Dec. 3.

All three of the indictments concerned Jamison's conduct towards a young boy who was in his custody or care.

One indictment alleges Jamison caused severe physical and mental injury between April 1, 2007 and Aug. 30, 2007 by handcuffing the boy and beating him with a belt while forcing the boy to run back and forth in a back yard.

The second indictment alleges Jamison caused severe injury to the boy's foot/ankle between Dec. 6 and Dec. 8, 2006, by beating the child with a belt, including the belt buckle.

The third indictment alleges Jamison caused severe mental injury between Jan. 1, 2007, and April 30, 2007, by handcuffing the boy and locking him face-down in a closet.

Jamison's telephone number is not listed in the most recent telephone directory and no one answered a call placed to a contact number listed in a police document.