A former Aiken County assistant principal who pleaded guilty in 2010 to child molestation has been released from prison after serving his sentence, according to the S.C. Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services.
Stephen Coke Eubanks, 73, completed his sentence Feb. 27, according to Peter O'Boyle, a spokesman for Probation and Parole.
It is not clear when Eubanks was released.
He had a parole hearing in December but was rejected.
Eubanks is listed as living on Belair Road in North Augusta, according to the S.C. Sex Offender Registry, which classifies him as a tier III offender.
A tier III offender is a sex offender whose offense is punishable by more than one year in prison and is comparable to or more severe than aggravated sexual abuse or abusive sexual conduct; involves kidnapping of a minor; or occurs after an offender becomes a tier II offender, according to the S.C. Attorney General's Office.
Eubanks was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2010 after pleading guilty to raping and exploiting several teenagers over the course of about 20 years.
The charges included two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor, one count of lewd act upon a child and two counts of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature.
The judge sentenced Eubanks to 10 years for each crime, with the sentences running concurrently.
South Carolina abolished parole for violent crimes in 1996.
O'Boyle told the Aiken Standard last year that because none of Eubanks' crimes were considered violent offenses when he committed them, he was "grandfathered" into the old law.
Eubanks also was released early with help from what is called "good time credit," in which the state Department of Corrections rewards inmates with credits for good behavior and participation in work and educational programs.
These credits can be applied toward an inmate's sentence to establish an earlier release date.
Prosecutors said at Eubanks' plea hearing that he made juveniles perform various sex acts with him and took some to interstate rest areas where he made them engage in sexual activity with other unidentified men, according to previous reports. The charges encompassed attacks on six victims; however, prosecutors said there were others who did not wish to go through with prosecution so as not to be identified.
In addition to working at North Augusta High School and Paul Knox Junior High, Eubanks is a former school administrator with the Georgetown and Lancaster county school systems.
The allegations against Eubanks were similar to those lodged by a victim sexually assaulted by former North Augusta Planning Commission chairman and TV host Edward Meloan, according to previous reports. Meloan was sentenced to 78 years in prison in 2007 after pleading guilty to sexually abusing teenagers in the late 1960s and 1970s.
In both the Meloan and Eubanks cases, police said the victims initially approached North Augusta Public Safety officers, and that the Meloan case might have triggered Eubanks' alleged victims to come forward with the accusations.
Meloan remains incarcerated in the Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia and will be eligible for parole in October 2017.
Teddy Kulmala covers the crime and courts beat for the Aiken Standard and has been with the newspaper since August 2012.
He is a native of Williston and majored in communication studies at Clemson University.