Area sees string of sex crimes

An 82-year-old woman begged for her life. A 4-year-old disabled girl was victimized. Another woman was pinned in a public bathroom.

This is what police say happened in a rash of unrelated sexual assaults. Two men have been charged and police are looking for a third.

Charleston County sheriff's deputies are searching for Jerry Lee Manigault, 50, of 4940 Baptist Hill Road, Hollywood, on charges of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, first-degree burglary and strong-arm robbery, according to a police report. An elderly Hollywood woman told officers that a man came into her house at 4 a.m. Sunday when she was undressed.

He grabbed her, began to choke her and told her to give him money, the report said. She told him she didn't have any money and asked him not to kill her. The man raped her, demanded a towel, then demanded money. She gave him a roll of dimes and a can of soda. The can was left in the front yard, she said.

James Humes Wallenstein, 25, of 313 Bantry Circle, Charleston, has been charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor in a Saturday incident involving a 4-year-old child with a disability, according to a court affidavit. He was held without bond Tuesday. Wallenstein is an enlisted Marine who is attending The Citadel in a program to earn a bachelor's degree and become commissioned as an officer, said Charlene Gunnells, media relations coordinator.

Demetrius J. Jackson, 20, of 4750 Linda St., North Charleston, has been charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct, and is being held in the Charleston County Detention Center under a $500,000 bond, according to a court affidavit. A woman told police she was grabbed by the arm on Monday, pulled into a bathroom at a Rivers Avenue restaurant and assaulted by a man who overpowered her.

The incidents follow a report earlier this month of a sexual assault that might have involved a "date rape" drug. Folly Beach police are investigating the report.

A woman said she went to the Jaguars Gentlemen's Club in Charleston on July 15, where an older male bought her a drink, according a police report. She left with a friend to eat dinner on Folly Beach and began to feel incoherent and groggy during the trip. She vaguely recalled entering the restaurant, but the next thing she remembered was being awakened by a young couple on the side of the road on James Island.

Her shirt was on backward, she had blood on her pants and her underwear was missing, she told Folly Beach police. She was taken to Medical University Hospital where a rape kit examination was performed.

She didn't come into the police station until July 21 to make the report because she couldn't remember anything and didn't know if it would do any good, she told police.

Reach Bo Petersen at 937-5744 or bpetersen@postandcourier.com.