Sex offender receives max sentence

A Lexington County man pled guilty Tuesday morning to criminal sexual conduct with a minor.

Lexington County resumed holding in-person court this week with social distancing protocols in place.

Kyle Allen Brown, 27, pled guilty to 1 count of criminal sexual conduct with a minor – 3rd degree. This charge carries a sentence of up to 15 years in the South Carolina Department of Corrections with mandatory sex offender registration and lifetime electronic monitoring.

Circuit Court Judge Walton J. McLeod, IV, imposed the maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. There were no plea negotiations in this case.

Between Dec. 26, 2017, and Feb. 28, 2018, Brown sexually assaulted the minor victim in his home in the Batesburg area of Lexington County.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant Solicitor Ashley Wellman, who would like to thank the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department and the Dickerson Children’s Advocacy Center for their hard work and commitment during this prosecution.

Brown is being transferred to the South Carolina Department of Corrections to immediately begin service of his prison sentence.

Lexington woman killed in collision

A Lexington woman died in a Monday morning collision on Old Dunbar Road.

Kayla Marie Troutman, 32, of Lexington, was pronounced dead at the scene due to her injuries, according to Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher.

Troutman was traveling east when her vehicle crossed the center line and collided head-on with a tractor trailer.

It happened in the 2000 block of Old Dunbar Road in West Columbia at approximately 7:40 am on March 22, Fisher said.

Troutman was wearing a seat belt. The driver of the tractor trailer was not injured.

The incident is under investigation by the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

West Columbia drug case

A West Columbia man accused of drug trafficking charges is also accused of neglecting a child.

Curley Brooks, 44, is charged with trafficking cocaine, trafficking crack, and unlawful neglect of a child, according to arrest warrants.

“Agents from the county’s Narcotics Enforcement Team, along with State Law Enforcement Division agents, were working a case on Glenn Road in Gaston, Saturday, when they received word cocaine would be in Brooks’ truck,” Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said. “They stopped the truck and recovered more than 400 grams of cocaine from the passenger seat.”

Agents found more than 15 grams of crack in the truck’s backseat, according to Koon.

“Brooks had a young child in the car with the drugs, which led to the unlawful neglect of a child charge,” Koon said.

Brooks was arrested on the scene of the traffic stop on Glenn Road. He’s being held in the Lexington County Detention Center.