It is with great pain that I am writing to you. First, let me give you some background information of what has transpired. My sister has been friends with a woman for 16 years, this friendship started when they met in church as young pre-teens. The young woman later entered the military, got married, and had a son. The only person she could imagine naming the God-Mother was my sister. My sister has been in the mom and child’s life since the beginning. She was at his Christening, was there for the mom and child when the mom went through a divorce and the child’s father was sent to prison. He and his mom have had to move in with her twice after being homeless with nowhere to go, my sister has provided clothing for him, given Christmas gifts when he had none, Birthday gifts when he had none, and has watched him on several occasions while his mom had to go to mandatory drill for the military. When my sister had to work overtime and could not watch him, the child’s mom would contact other members of our family to watch him, once, she even dropped the child off at my brother’s college dorm room to watch him. March 2014 my little sister received a phone call from this woman back in our hometown of Kansas City, MO stating that her PTSD was very severe after serving 2 tours in Iraq and that she had been physically, mentally, and verbally abusive to her son and that she felt like she wanted to hurt her son and could not care for him any longer. My little sister who is 29, single, with no kids, ran into my room (she had recently moved in with me here in South Carolina for a new start) frantically and said I have to save my God Son. So without hesitation, I agreed to him coming. My sister went as far as paying for the child a plane ticket to get him here as fast as possible. The moment the child arrived my sisters heart lit up. The child was a very polite and imaginative child. After arriving we noticed that his clothes that were sent were too small, he needed a haircut, new shoes, and looked like he hadn’t taken a bath in quite some time. He had several crusted over sores on his body that we were told by his mom was severe eczema. We immediately brought him a new bed, toys, clothes, got a haircut, and skin cream. My sister even tried to put him on her insurance at work to no avail, because she did not have temporary nor full custody of the child. So we spoke with his mom regarding temporary custody so that we could get him the health care he needed and enroll him in school. My sister was able to take him to the physician to get his shots (which he had not had since he was 2 years old and he was now 5 years old) at the free health clinic in which (there was no abuse found) so that he could be enrolled in daycare. Soon after enrolling him in daycare we noticed that the child was great around adults, but was unable to socialize with children, often hitting them severely, and even falling out in the floor and hitting himself. On one occasion the child tried to push another student off of a 4ft stage. On another occasion the child told a little girl she was acting like a “b@@@@”. We put him in swimming (again no abuse allegations) and basketball at the YMCA and he thrived, but only because we "adults" were watching as soon as we would turn our back he was violent again. There was an incident in which we took the child and enrolled him into the children’s choir at church. We left for 20 min, when we came back the child had already kicked another child in the growing, punched one in the stomach, and told the choir director he didn’t have to listen to her, wasn’t going to listen to her, and she could do what she wanted but he didn’t have to follow her. On another occasion while working with the child on homework that he was struggling with; he started punching himself in the face and hitting himself on the forehead continuing to say stupid, stupid, stupid. These are just 2 examples. My sister sought to obtain some sort of behavioral and psychological help for the child, but with no insurance for him there was no place to turn to. The temporary custody hearing was signed by a judge in Lexington County, SC in September and the child was able to enroll into school where again his social issues with kids came out. From the beginning of daycare in April to mid-August he had over 10 writes ups. When kindergarten started from August to Oct. 13th he had more than 21 write ups and 8 in school suspensions. My sister was very active in getting him Medicaid. The child was even seen during this time by an Urgent Care for a constant cough. The physician also checked his skin and recommended a skin cream. My sister also started doing research to have him seen by a psychiatrist, but the waiting list was months long. She tried calling VA to see if he could be seen since both his parents had been in the military, but was told it was only for the "soldiers". She tried EVERYTHING including behavior modification techniques and occasionally spanking. When spanking did not work, she went to more behavior modification. She also was vigilant in communicating with the child’s teachers as well as both parents about what we were doing at home such as having him reach a goal "Red Lobster, toy, beach outing" at the end of the week if he did well at school so the teachers could all be on the same page also. On Monday October 13th, the child got in trouble at before and after school care for hitting a little girl in the face. When I picked the child up I asked him why he did it, his answer was “the devil was speaking to me”. My sister told him she was disappointed and that he would not be able to go to the beach with us that weekend when my little brother, sister in law, and nephew came in town. The child was quite upset. On Tuesday around 11am. My sister got a call from SC DSS stating she needed to meet them at the house. She got to the house and they told her that the child had spilled syrup on his clothes that morning and a male gym teacher had taken him to the bathroom BY HIMSELF and CHANGED HIS CLOTHES, (he is 5 and can change his own clothes) and noticed marks on his body and called DSS who in return called the Lexington County Sheriff’s department. They said they spoke to the child who said "God Mommy Candice beat him every day after school with a rope, and even went as far as to say that I beat him, my sister beat him, his mom beat him, and his dad (who my sister explained to no avail has been in prison since Marlon was 8 months old and just recently got out and started back up phone communication)". DSS took a statement took a jump rope out of the house as "evidence". The next day around 5pm, after their supposed "extensive" investigation where they claimed to have taken the child to a top physician who "specializes" in child abuse to confirm abuse my sister was hauled off to jail. I was told her bond hearing would be the next day and she was being charged with 4 felony counts of child abuse because the child said the abuse happened at home and at school. The next day I went to her bond hearing where the same sheriff’s deputy that came to the house and told me "we take child abuse seriously like the guy who killed his 5 kids....did I mention he was under DSS investigation, but the same case worker who was now in charge of this case, at the time and they determined he was "a loving fit father".) The judge listened to the deputy, did not look at any pics or anything, listened to my sister's lawyer that we had to get at the last minute; who explained she was not a flight risk, had taken on a child with no financial assistance from the parents, how she was about to start a new job with better benefits and pay so she could better care for the child, and how she has NO criminal history or record. The judge quickly looked at my sister and said NO BOND. Later on that afternoon the "interim" sheriff for Lexington County (the real sheriff has been indicted and is on currently serving prison time for bribery) called in all the media outlets and gave them a story about how my sister was this evil monster who had severely beaten a child on a daily basis with a jump rope from the dates of "Aug. 18th-Oct. 13th"...the story also included her mugshot. The dates were interesting because the child had gone to the doctor for a respiratory illness where his shirt was removed so the doctor could check his heart and has also gone to the nurse at school during that time for throwing a tantrum and knocking himself into a chair in the process where his shirt was also removed and ice applied to his stomach...both did not report ANY abuse. My sister stayed in jail for 22 days until a second bond hearing on Nov. 4th, where the judge released her on a $50,000 bond. During this bond hearing the judge asked about how the child got here. The DSS workers did not have the correct information about the circumstances of him coming, the timing and date of him coming, nor that was my sister the one who financially paid for him to come. This is interesting because once her attorney received the evidence they had against her (after many requests I may add) it was clear that the documentation from the supposed psycho therapist that interviewed that it had been falsified. She stated that DSS had given her information regarding the background of how the child got here, the document was dated October 6th. Let me remind you on Nov. 4th…the DSS workers did not have that information until it came out in bond court?? During the trial which took place August 10th and was quickly concluded on August 12th, several interesting facts came out about the investigation or lack thereof. I will have to bullet point them because there are so many…So here we go…. * The so called "expert physician on child abuse" was actually an ER doctor at Lexington County ER. He admitted on the stand that he is not a child abuse specialist and that there were several other places in the area that were more qualified for the child to be taken to. He did nothing but a "physical" exam, but no blood work up to detect for diseases, blood disorders, congenital skin diseases or defects of any kind. He stated there was no need for x-rays, and no need to prescribe any salve, pain meds, etc. for the bruises he observed. He could not explain the bruises and could not with confidence say they came from a jump rope nor the timeline of the bruises. *The investigators did not look at his past medical records, interview any other witnesses such as teachers (not until right before the trial), my other sister, did not get in touch with the parents who would have told them the child has accused others falsely of abuse before such as a past daycare, nor did they look at any of the child’s prior behavioral patterns which includes lying and manipulation. All they wanted was an escape goat to make up for the past mistakes that SC DFS and Lexington County Sheriff's Department has made. The judge also did not allow any of this evidence into the trial. *The child’s only visit to the doctor while in DSS custody was the initial visit to the ER physician. They never took him back for any follow-ups. *My sister was never read her Miranda rights, the officer and DSS worker lied and said they gave them to her verbally, yet there is no documentation of her ever given a statement, nor a signed Miranda rights form. Yet there is a signed form where my sister volunteered for the officer to take the rope. *The child at first stated he was whipped and beaten naked, yet on the stand twice he stated he was fully clothed when spanked. *No pictures were taken of the supposed “crime scene”, no D.N.A. testing was done on the jump rope, the clothes that the child had on the day he went to school are now missing? *His teachers who had never reported any signs of abuse as mandatory reporters got on the stand and stated “in their opinion as teachers children that acted out by demonstrating aggressive behavior were more than likely exhibiting learned behavior at home.” These teachers are not experts, yet their testimony and opinions were allowed by the judge. *The full DSS file was not turned over to my sister’s defense attorney until a few days before the trial. In it there were notes that showed that the child since being in DSS Custody had been written up several more times, suspended for telling a classmate “he would have her put in jail, just like he did his God Mommy”, has solicited sex on two separate occasions from other children in the foster home, and was kicked out of at least 2 foster homes. None of this was allowed into evidence by the judge. *On the stand the child started answering questions BEFORE they were even being asked. This led my sister’s attorney to believe the child was coached. *The motion to request a psych evaluation for the child was denied. * The state gave custody of the child back to his mom about 3 weeks before the trial. His mom suffers from not only PTSD, but has a history of schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder in her family. His mom later revealed that she was told they would withhold custody unless she agreed to have the child testify against my sister. The child has been subject to going to so called “counseling” with the DSS coworker. It was also revealed that the state has been paying the moms rent, and giving her food, gas, and clothing stipends. *After the trial the judge took less than 10 min to go ahead with the sentencing phase. He gave a long speech about having 2 grandsons, called my sister cold and calculated, congratulated the sheriff’s department on a job well done, and said he was going to give her a 10 year sentence because she did not apologize. My sister has always expressed her innocence, she has no criminal background, she has held a steady job all of her life, and she is only 29. Please read this and give us any assistance that you can. My sister is a loving, caring, person who took in a child when no one else was willing and now she is in prison for something she did not do. Please stand with us in demanding justice and also that a bill is created that will require the following: DSS to complete a psychological and background check on ALL parties involved, pictures taken of the alleged crime scene, and DNA testing done on supposed evidence.