Seneca Man Arrested on Kidnapping Charge

The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office arrested a Seneca man Sunday, April 29, on a charge of kidnapping. After turning himself in at the Law Enforcement Center in Walhalla, 39-year-old Michael Ed Blandon Childs was booked into the Oconee County Detention Center. He was also charged with one count of domestic violence in the second degree related to the same incident. Childs also had two outstanding General Sessions Bench Warrants and a hold has been placed on Childs by the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardons. On April 26, a deputy responded to an address on Gillespie Drive near Seneca and began an investigation into a domestic violence incident in which the victim stated that Childs had assaulted her. The deputy observed a physical manifestation of injuries on her. The assault occurred in a vehicle while Childs was driving and the victim was a passenger inside. The victim told the deputy that she asked Childs to let her out of the vehicle and he refused to do so. Childs drove himself and the victim back to the residence where the victim was able to get away from him and obtain a ride to the Gillespie Drive address. As the investigation progressed and evidence was obtained in the case, the deputy had probable cause to obtain the two arrest warrants against Childs. At this time, Childs remains in custody at the Oconee County Detention Center pending a bond hearing.

News story courtesy of Chad Dorsett, 104.1 The Lake, WSNW