Source: US FBI
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Donald Ray Hurst, Jr., 35, of Sumter, has been sentenced to more than 10 years in federal prison for destruction of an energy facility and possession of child sexual abuse material.
Evidence obtained in the investigation revealed that on Aug. 11, 2023, Duke Energy called law enforcement to respond to a power outage near Fish Road in Dalzell. FBI agents and deputies with the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office arrived and saw that the regulator bank, which helps distribute power to the local community and businesses, had multiple holes in it that appeared to be from bullets. The damage resulted in a power outage to several thousand customers. The cost of the clean-up and replacement of the regulators was over $100,000. Investigators identified and arrested Hurst as the shooter.
While incarcerated, Hurst was heard on a recorded jail phone call informing someone about a hard drive in his room that needed to be recovered because it “could get someone in trouble.” In a subsequent recorded phone call, Hurst admitted to shooting the regulator bank. He also stated that the hard drive found at his home contained images of child sexual abuse material that he acquired from the dark web.
Agents retrieved the hard drive from the home, and a search warrant on the hard drive revealed several images that were confirmed to be child sexual abuse material by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
This case was made possible by investigative leads generated from the ATF’s National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN). NIBIN is the only national network that allows for the capture and comparison of ballistic evidence to aid in solving and preventing violent crimes involving firearms. NIBIN is a proven investigative and intelligence tool that can link firearms from multiple crime scenes, allowing law enforcement to quickly disrupt shooting cycles. For more information on NIBIN, visit https://www.atf.gov/firearms/national-integrated-ballistic-information-network-nibin
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the U.S. Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc.
United States District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis sentenced Hurst to 125 months imprisonment, to be followed by a lifetime term of court-ordered supervision and $138,000 in restitution. There is no parole in the federal system.
This case was investigated by the FBI Columbia Field Office, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, and Sumter Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lamar J. Fyall and Michael Shedd are prosecuting the case.
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