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COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - A former Columbia-area fugitive, who was arrested in Kentucky after skipping his child abuse trial this summer, will now spend four decades in prison for that abuse.

43-year-old Nathan Ginter was found guilty of abusing and burning his 3-year-old daughter at a June trial that he did not show up for.

That led to a multiple agency manhunt, and he was later apprehended by the Scott County Sheriff’s Office in Georgetown, Kentucky hundreds of miles away.

Body camera footage from his Kentucky arrest shows that he initially provided deputies with a false name.

Ginter was extradited back to South Carolina on Oct. 10. On Tuesday, he faced Circuit Court Judge Robert Hood in Richland County for the first time since all of this transpired to be sentenced for the child abuse charges.

Hood handed down a 40-year sentence, which was the maximum allowed under the law for these charges.

Ginter received a 10-year sentence for each child abuse charge, to be served consecutively.

“Usually judges will run things concurrently which means running them at the same time and together, but in this particular case the facts were so egregious,” Assistant Solicitor Anna Browder with the Fifth Circuit Solicitor’s Office said in an interview following sentencing.

Tuesday was also the first time the guardians of Ginter’s children had the opportunity to address him directly.

His actions did not break these children, they said.

Lindsay Ott, the guardian of Ginter’s oldest daughter who witnessed much of the abuse, said there will never be true justice for these young girls, but now at least they can feel a safety they had never felt before with him set to be behind bars for a long time.

“The day that Nathan was apprehended in Kentucky was the first time that I have slept through night in over two and a half years because I was no longer fearful that he was waiting outside my door to harm his daughter or harm me or anyone else,” Ott said during the sentencing hearing.

Evidence at trial detailed prolonged patterns of abuse over a period of three months that escalated into water torture. Much of the abuse was videotaped.

Ginter began by bruising his daughter with a bamboo stick, prosecutors said, and also used a stun gun on her, leaving her with multiple second degree burns.

“We as prosecutors see a lot of things most people don’t see,” Browder, the lead prosecutor on the case, said. “But this was something that was in excess of what we normally see when it came to the physical child abuse”

Ashley Kimbler, the guardian of Ginter’s youngest daughter who is the victim in this case, said she does not believe Ginter has any remorse, and is only sorry he got caught.

His daughter, she said, is now thriving.

“She is kind and sweet and loving and not because of what he did, but because of me and my husband,” Kimbler said. “She gets to know what true love is from a father that took her in and would move the world for her, rather than trying to ruin her world.”

Browder said Ginter’s children and their families feel some relief for multiple reasons.

“They know that their children have the ability to grow up and get through their childhood without worrying about him coming around and being out of jail,” she said. “Also just the ability to move forward a little bit that this phase of the sentencing is over. It, of course, will never be over for these children, but the fact that this part is over they know they can move forward and continue with their healing.”

Ginter addressed the court briefly, prior to being sentenced, against the advice of Brett Perry, his attorney. He said he felt Perry did not adequately represent him.

Hood pushed back, and said despite the seriousness of the charges and the case, Perry was competent and professional.

He defended Ginter to the best of his ability at trial, Hood said, despite the defendant’s absence.

The 3-year-old’s mother, Tiffany Brittain, is currently serving out a seven-year prison sentence after she pleaded guilty to charges related to similar abuse of the same child.

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Columbia will not host rounds of the NCAA’s March Madness men’s basketball championship in 2027 or 2028, despite submitting a bid earlier this year.

Columbia’s problem is its lack of full-service hotels, explained Scott Powers, executive director of Experience Columbia Sports, the city’s sports tourism agency.

“While it wasn’t a surprise, we’re disappointed,” Powers said, explaining that the NCAA informed the city earlier this month that it would not be among host cities for tournaments in 2027 or 2028.

In 2019, the city broke a nearly 50-year streak and was chosen to host a portion of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament for the first time since 1970. Almost 48,000 tickets were sold for the six games hosted in Columbia that year, and the overall economic impact to Richland and Lexington counties was $11.3 million.

It was a big moment for Columbia, not only because of the economics, but also because March Madness draws international attention and it was a chance for South Carolina’s capital city to show its assets.

The city keeps hoping to recapture that moment, but every year since the city last won a host position the requirements have gotten more stringent, Powers said. In 2019, they found creative ways around the full-service hotel problem. But the NCAA hasn’t been willing to make the same concessions in more recent years.

Columbia and the surrounding area do have a lot of hotels. There were at least 160 hotels with a total of 13,263 rooms in the Columbia metro area as of December 2023, according to the state Restaurant and Lodging Association. That’s also a significant increase from December 2019, when there were 129 hotels and under 12,000 rooms. So the region is also adding hotels. But they aren’t adding the right kind of hotels fast enough.

The NCAA wants host cities with eight to 10 full-service hotels with in-house food and beverage options, with four meeting rooms of at least 2,000 square feet. And it wants each of the eight teams playing in the tournament rounds to have their own hotel to avoid any bad blood before or after games. There are only four hotels in the region that meet those requirements, Powers previously told The State, and the city hasn’t built any new ones in almost 20 years. The last NCAA-approved full-service hotel that opened in Columbia was the Hilton Columbia Center in 2007.

Columbia wasn’t the only city in the Carolinas to miss out on the host gigs. Charlotte is the only city in the Carolinas to have been selected by the NCAA this round. Powers thinks this indicates that smaller cities might not stand a chance in the future.

Powers said he will keep bidding to host NCAA tournament rounds, but he’s not optimistic that Columbia will get selected, at least until after 2030, because bids have to be submitted up to two years prior and Columbia won’t change enough in that time. He said one solution could be to limit the number of small hotels that can be built downtown in favor of larger projects.

Developer Ben Arnold has plans to build one new full-service hotel in the Vista in coming years, and the Convention Center has also been planning a hotel project adjacent to its property.

Powers added that he doesn’t think the NCAA’s decision is an indication that Columbia isn’t a good fit to host high-profile events, pointing to the recent Premier League Rivals in Red match hosted at Williams-Brice. While there are limits to what the city can support, he said, Powers believes Columbia will still continue to build momentum to host bigger events.

“Obviously we know we’re not going to host a Superbowl,” he said.

This story was originally published October 22, 2024, 12:04 PM.

The State

(803) 771-8330

Morgan Hughes covers Columbia news for The State. She previously reported on health, education and local governments in Wyoming. She has won awards in Wyoming and Wisconsin for feature writing and investigative journalism. Her work has also been recognized by the South Carolina Press Association.

A Columbia man was arrested for stealing more than $44,000 from the nonprofit organization where he used to be the executive director, according to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.

Darrel President Sr., 56, was charged with breach of trust with fraudulent intent ($10,000 or more) on Oct. 16, SLED said in a news release.

Between May 19, 2023 and Feb. 29, 2024, President took funds from Greenbrier Resource Community Development Center and spent the money on “his personal enrichment,” according to an arrest warrant and affidavit shared by SLED.

“Darrel President did knowingly, willingly and without the the lawful authority to do so, take, steal or convert to his ownership, more than $10,000 from Greenbrier Resource Community Development Center where he was an authorized signer on the bank account for (the nonprofit organization) and in a position of financial trust,” an arrest warrant said.

The money — approximately $44,220 — was taken after the nonprofit had received $100,000 in state funded grants to build a community center in Fairfield County, the affidavit said.

President withdrew the money from the nonprofit’s bank account without the approval or knowledge of the organization’s board members, according to the affidavit.

There was no word about what personal items President bought with the stolen money, or if all of it was spent.

When President was questioned by the nonprofit’s board members he admitted to withdrawing the money and agreed to repay the funds, according to the affidavit.

“President began making payments back for the funds fraudulently withdrawn in June 2024,” the affidavit said.

SLED said President was booked into the Fairfield County Detention Center. Information about President’s bond was not available.

President will be prosecuted by the 6th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.

If convicted on the felony charge, President maximum punishment of 10 years in prison, according to South Carolina law.

In 2018 and again in 2022, President unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the Richland 2 school board.

In a breaking news situation, facts can be unclear and the situation may still be developing. The State is trying to get important information to the public as quickly and accurately as possible. This story will be updated as more information becomes available, and some information in this story may change as the facts become clearer. Refresh this page later for more updated information.

A company that has outdoor apparel stores nationwide has opened a new spot in a trendy Columbia shopping center.

Orvis recently debuted a new shop at 702 Cross Hill Road in the Cross Hill Market shopping center just off Devine Street. While the store already is open for business, it will have a grand opening celebration from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 25-27. There will be giveaways, sales and refreshments during each of those days, and a portion of the proceeds from the celebration will go to Congaree Riverkeeper, according to social media posts from Riverkeeper and Orvis.

Congaree Riverkeeper is a nonprofit that advocates for the protection of rivers and streams in the Midlands area.

Initially founded in 1856 and headquartered in Vermont, Orvis is a leading name in outdoor clothing, fly fishing gear, products for dogs and more. It has locations nationwide, including additional South Carolina stores on King Street in Charleston and on Main Street in Greenville.

“Columbia has been a focus for us for several years as an opportunity to further expand our footprint in South Carolina, and Cross Hill was our preference for several reasons: it’s active, energetic and close to our core customers,” Orvis director of real estate Jason Williams said in a previous story in The State.

Cross Hill Market has been an enduringly fashionable shopping hub near Devine Street and Garners Ferry Road, southeast of downtown Columbia. The plaza is home to a Whole Foods grocery store, Midwood Smokehouse barbecue restaurant, Basil Thai Cuisine, Athleta clothing shop and more.

The shopping center is at the nexus of a handful of high-traffic roads. About 29,000 cars per day travel down Devine Street nearby, per state Department of Transportation statistics, while about 46,000 cars per day travel down Garners Ferry Road and 16,100 per day traverse Cross Hill Road.

This story was originally published October 21, 2024, 11:30 AM.

An art piece awarded as part of the competitions at this year’s S.C. State Fair has been disqualified due to the use of artificial intelligence.

The piece, “Country Woman” by Blackville artist Terrance Washington, had been awarded Best of Division - Amateur, which comes with a $300 cash prize. Organizers for the fair, which takes place in Columbia, declined to comment on the piece’s disqualification beyond a statement sent out to the artists who submitted to this year’s competitions. That statement doesn’t specify whether the cash prize had already been awarded or if the fair will try to get it back.

“It has been brought to our attention that there was a violation of the art contest rules in relation to Digital Media and the use of Artificial Intelligence,” the fair’s statement reads. “Contest rules clearly state in Divisions 107-Professional and 607- Amateur that pieces ‘Must NOT be created using generative Artificial Intelligence (AI).’ ”

Washington couldn’t immediately be reached for comment about his piece’s disqualification.

“We hope to work to educate our exhibitors on the rules related to digital art and also to work with our judges to prevent this from occurring in the future,” the fair’s statement continues. “While we believe this was an unintentional mistake, we encourage all competitive exhibit participants to closely read the rules in place and to act with integrity. This year, the SCSF had over 1600 pieces registered for the art show. 1276 unique pieces of art are currently on display. Of those pieces, 20 are entered in digital art. After being informed there was a piece of art generated with AI on display, the artwork was pulled. We are working to ensure that this does not happen again. However, we also must rely on the integrity of our artists and trust they are following the contest rules.”

Local artists told The State that the piece was pulled after they reached out to the fair, pointing to a July 2023 post on X (formerly Twitter) from Washington that includes “Country Girl” and three other pieces with the caption: “I did my first A.I. Art, it’s based on Artist Thriving in a rural communities [sic].”

Artists who responded to the situation online were pointed in their criticism.

“The work of living artists all across the internet is scraped and compiled to create these images without the artists’ knowledge, consent, or compensation,” West Columbia illustrator, printmaker and photographer Colton Giles posted to Facebook. “This combined with the use of GenAI in place of commercial illustrators, graphic designers, photographers, and many other professional artists is a more pressing issue than the gray-area conversations around what may or may not be real art. GenAI imagery is theft, and that is not a gray area.”

West Columbia artist Sean McGuinness, who creates Godzilla-centered mash-up art via the brand Neo Monster Island and who submitted multiple pieces to the fair’s digital art competition, told The State he worries about the event’s ability to detect AI submissions moving forward.

“I don’t think the State Fair is really prepared for this,” he said. “Think about who’s judging these pieces, a bunch of older folk who don’t even know how to recognize digital art. The only reason this got brought up is because they were able to find out the forum where the guy admitted it was AI.”

This story was originally published October 18, 2024, 1:32 PM.

The State

Jordan Lawrence is a reporter for The State covering Lexington County. He has worked for newspapers in the Columbia area for more than a decade, having previously served as the lead editor for Free Times and the Lexington County Chronicle. He has won several South Carolina Press Association Awards, including recognition for breaking news reporting, business reporting and arts and entertainment writing.