A National Guard recruiting mission gone awry shakes a small South Carolina town to its core. It was supposed to be college day for the students of Ware Shoals High School in South Carolina, a chance to learn about educational prospects at a local institution. But according to police, two of the school’s cheerleaders ditched the event (the exact date hasn’t been made public) and instead headed to a motel with Jill Moore, their coach. There, they met up for a tryst with two National Guardsmen who recruited at their school. Moore loosened things up by allegedly providing the girls with vodka.

Then, the cops say, she repaired to a room with one of the soldiers and set up a different room for the two cheerleaders and the other soldier to “hook up.” According to authorities, the second Guardsman and one of the girls later admitted that they had a sexual relationship.

The alleged incident is part of a wider scandal that has shaken Ware Shoals. With its titillating mix of cheerleaders, soldiers, booze and sex, the story has drawn national media to a tiny 2,300-person town that, until now, was best known for its annual Catfish Festival. On Jan. 18, the city of Ware Shoals charged her with transferring beer to a minor; the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office charged Moore with contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Then, on Jan. 22, authorities charged the high-school principal, Jane Blackwell, with obstruction of justice, accusing her of impeding their investigation into Moore’s alleged misdeeds. Though the sheriff’s office isn’t bringing charges against the Guardsmen—since all parties involved were at least 16, the age of consent in South Carolina—the military is conducting its own investigation, one that could lead to a court-martial. Even the South Carolina Legislature may be prodded to action: some lawmakers are now talking of trying to raise the age of consent in the state.

Moore, who also worked as a guidance office clerk at the school, stands accused of a litany of inappropriate behavior. Authorities accuse her of regularly buying alcohol and cigarettes for members of her squad. They say she brought along a cheerleader to the National Armory, where the girl would distract other employees while Moore had sex with her Guardsman lover, Thomas Fletcher. And they allege that she also had a sexual relationship with a male high-school student who once accompanied her to a Clemson athletic event while she boozed it up. Investigators say that Fletcher and the male student have admitted to sexual affairs with Moore, who is married with two kids. (Fletcher is also married.) But she says she’s innocent of the charges. Her attorney, W. Townes Jones, says she’s utterly distressed. “She is almost catatonic,” he says. “She cries all the time and says she feels like a bomb went off inside her. She is barely existing.”

The accusations against Moore come as no surprise to many townspeople. One high-school student says Moore used to buy beer for his sister when she was on the cheerleading team. The parent of a current squad member says she had heard of Moore’s affair with the male student, but overlooked it because she considered Moore a good coach and believed the boy to be at least 18. But not all parents were as sanguine. Near the end of last year, several contacted police to complain about the coach’s behavior. Story continues on page 2.

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