Pregnant Teacher Faces New Twist Amid Sex Abuse Charges

A major development for a South Carolina. teacher accused of sexually abusing a. teenager. And this could upend the case. We're breaking down the allegations. against Nicole Callahan, the criminal. charges she faces, and what this latest. twist means with a unique insight from a. South Carolina criminal defense. attorney. Welcome to Sidebar, presented. by Law and Crime. I'm Elizabeth Milner. in for Jesse Weber. [Music]. The South Carolina State Board of. Education has officially suspended the. teaching license of former Anderson.

County teacher Nicole Callahan. This. comes after claims she sexually abused a. teenage boy. Officials say the move is. necessary because of the quote serious. nature of the allegations and the. potential threat to the health, safety, and welfare of students. Authorities say. Callahan, who was a kindergarten teacher. and local musical theater director, allegedly exploited her position of. trust to engage in inappropriate. behavior with the young student over. several years. We're going to get into. what this latest development means. But. first, if you're not familiar with this.

disturbing case, let me walk you through. it from the beginning. This is one of. those rare cases where you'll get to. hear directly from the alleged victim. himself, a teen who made the decision to. come forward once he turned 18 years. old. He told the court and later the. public that he refuses to stay silent. and wants people to understand what he. says really happened to him. We'll get. into his words in just a bit, but let's. talk about Nicole, a 33-year-old who was. living in Anderson, South Carolina. She. was married, had a young daughter, and.

was known in her community as both a. teacher and a musical theater director. From the outside looking in, she was a. trusted role model for kids. She even. had light-hearted videos of herself. online dancing in a classroom, talent. show, and smiling with students. In. 2021, she directed Legally Blonde Jr. the musical at a local children's. playhouse. The group marketed itself as. a safe, creative space where kids could. build up confidence, and that's where. police say she met a boy who was just 14. years old at the time. His family signed.

him up for auditions, and Callahan gave. him a part in the show. Flyers for that. production are still on the Playhouse's. Facebook page, and parents back then. were publicly praising Callahan, calling. her an inspiration. It seemed like a. pretty wholesome theater project. But. according to investigators, this is when. the grooming began. According to a. police report, Anderson County deputies. say Callahan started offering to drive. the boy to and from rehearsals, something that seemed like a helpful. gesture to his busy mom who had other. children to care for. Callahan also had.

a daughter of her own, which made it. seem like she was even more trustworthy. Now, over time, police say that she. started opening up to the boy's family. She confided in them about her marriage. problems and said that she had a. strained relationship with both her mom. and her sister. The victim's mother. later told the court that she thought. Callahan needed support and she was. willing to be there for her. But behind. the scenes, authorities alleged that. Callahan blurred those boundaries. According to court documents, she slowly. built private trust with the boy and. then began to sexually abuse him. His.

mother eventually discovered what was. allegedly happening and confronted. Callahan, telling her to stay away from. her son. But prosecutors say Callahan. didn't stop there. Instead, she found. new ways to keep contact, changing her. social media handles to avoid being. blocked and even buying an Xbox so she. could continue talking to the teen while. he was playing video games. Another. disturbing allegation, the victim's. mother later told the court that. Callaham's own young daughter was. sometimes present during these. encounters. By the time police got.

involved, investigators were building. multiple cases against her, and she's. now facing a whole slew of charges. across county lines. The Anderson County. Sheriff's Office said its investigation. began in May of 2025. Detectives. uncovered evidence that the misconduct. had started years earlier in 2021. On. July 10th, the sheriff's office posted. about their investigation into Callaham, writing, quote, "Callahham, an Anderson. County school teacher at the time, engaged in grooming behavior toward the. boy during his early teenage years. The.

relationship intensified as she. reportedly signed the student out of. school, transported him to practices, and served as a supervisor for after. school activities. These repeated. interactions led to a prolonged pattern. of abuse, which was cooperated by search. warrants and ongoing cooperation with. the victim's family. According to. investigators, the victim made the. decision to come forward after turning. 18 following time spent processing the. experience and trauma associated with. the abuse. Based on their findings, the. Anderson County Prosecutor's Office.

charged Callahan with three counts of. criminal sexual conduct with a minor in. the second degree and one count of. contributing to the delinquency of a. minor. Now, under South Carolina law, a. person is guilty of criminal sexual. conduct with a minor in the second. degree if the actor engages in sexual. battery with a victim who is at least 14. years of age, but who is less than 16. years of age and the actor is in a. position of familial, custodial, or. official authority to coersse the victim. to submit or is older than the victim.

The punishment for that in South. Carolina is up to 20 years in prison. Contributing to the delinquency of a. minor, meaning pushing or influencing a. child to break rules, is punishable by a. fine of up to $3,000, up to three years. of prison time, or both. Hey, by the. way, there's a reason Sidebar is one of. the most popular shows on YouTube right. now. And just no big deal, but Joe. Rogan, we're coming for you. Just like. there's a reason Morgan and Morgan is. America's largest injury law firm. They're a firm with more than a thousand.

attorneys. And that's because they win a. lot. They've recovered more than $25. billion for more than $500,000 clients. In the past few months, a client in. Florida received $12 million after the. insurance company offered just $350,000. In Pennsylvania, a client was awarded. $26 million, 40 times the insurer's. $650,000. offer. Another client in Pennsylvania. received $29 million after being only. offered $500,000. Even if you think your case isn't worth.

millions, why not start a claim and. fight for what you deserve? Morgan and. Morgan makes it truly so easy. You can. start a claim from your phone in just. eight clicks. So, if you're injured, you. can easily start a claim at for the. people.com/lc. sidebar by clicking the link below or. scanning the QR code on your screen. We got to point out that Anderson County. isn't the only jurisdiction involved. here. While pursuing their case, investigators determined that some of. the alleged activity occurred in. Greenville. A July 10th Facebook post.

from the Greenville Police Department. reads, quote, "During the Anderson. County Sheriff's Office investigation, it was determined that some of the. alleged criminal activity had occurred. within the jurisdiction of the city of. Greenville. The investigation revealed. that Callahham engaged in an. inappropriate and unlawful relationship. with a 14-year-old male. Based on. evidence collected, Greenville. detectives obtained arrest warrants for. multiple offenses committed within our. jurisdiction and Greenville County. prosecutors charged Callahan with eight. counts of criminal sexual conduct with a.

minor in the second degree and four. counts of unlawful conduct toward a. child. South Carolina law defines. unlawful conduct toward a child as. placing the child at an unreasonable. risk of harm, causing harm to the child, or abandoning the child. It's punishable. by up to 10 years in prison. In May, Callahan resigned from her teaching job. She was arrested after surrendering to. authorities on July 10th. She appeared. for a hearing in Anderson County where. she was released on bond. And following. that hearing, the alleged victim in this.

case, now 18 years old, actually spoke. out publicly to the media. His name is. Grant Strickland, and here's what he. told reporters. >> Though it's a traumatic event, I'm here. to fight and I'm not going to back down. Um, and that I think more awareness. needs to be brought to things like this. And just because I'm a man doesn't mean. that it should be shunned away cuz I was. a child. I wasn't a man. I was a boy. >> Callahan then appeared in court on July. 14th in Greenville County. She dropped a.

huge bombshell. During the hearing, which you can see there from the court. footage per Wiff, she was actually. smiling. Then came the big reveal. Her. defense attorney told the judge she was. 8 to nine weeks pregnant. He had. emphasized that she had pleaded not. guilty and would need a shity bond to. receive prenatal care while awaiting. trial. The court ultimately set bail at. $120,000. broken down into $10,000 for each. individual charge. I'm joined now by a.

very special guest to help break all of. this down and that's criminal defense. attorney Chris Adams. Chris, thank you. so much for joining me today. Um this is. a really truly shocking story and what's. your reaction to that? >> Well, it is a it's alarming for parents. uh who would have schools in the or. students in those districts. Um we see. we seem to be seeing a lot of these. stories nationwide. Um it seems to be. increasing at least this unscientific. view is it seems to be increasing around.

the country and it's it's always. scandalous. And why do you think we're seeing such. an increase of these types of cases? Do. you think it's because a lot more people. feel comfortable reporting this? A lot. more people um in terms of teachers and. other reporting figures are feeling more. comfortable reporting this. Why do you. why does it feel like we're always. seeing these types of cases in what. feels like a weekly basis? >> My guess is it's all about reporting. My. guess is this is gone on forever. And at.

least when I was a a kid, you know, uh. nobody would have viewed a male student, male high school student as a victim. >> Uh they would have said he he was lucky. >> And now people are prosecuted when. things come to light. >> Yeah. And it's interesting, too, because. sometimes I see, you know, under our. YouTube comments, some people will still. say things along those lines of, "Oh, I. wish I had teachers like that." And it's. just so inappropriate and disturbing. And it's um kind of that stigma that we. still see even to this day. And do you.

think that Nicole Callahan is even. taking her case kind of seriously at. all? I mean, when she appeared in court. last time, she was smiling. She seemed. pretty jovial given the allegations that. she's facing. >> I don't have any reason to think she is. not taking the charges seriously. It's. the the demeanor of someone appearing in. court is you can see from the outside. and it's almost there's no proper way. for someone to react if they look like.

they're carrying the weight of the world. on their shoulders or if they're in. tears. Um supporters of the victims. victim's rights communities will say. that's convenient. They're playing a. role for bond. If people look more. laidback or are trying to maybe put a a. stronger appearance forward, an. appearance of confidence, then they're. oftentimes viewed and criticized for. being nonchalant or not taking the. charges seriously. So, it's really hard. for any of us to know. She is facing.

considerable exposure in two different. judicial circuits in South Carolina. She's lost her is losing her employment. I don't have any reason to think anyone. I mean anyone in that situation is going. to take this seriously. And. >> are you surprised that she lost her. teaching license at all? Especially. given that she hasn't been convicted yet. or if she is to be convicted. Are you. surprised that she already lost that. license? >> Uh no I'm not. She is first of all the. most important part is she's presumed.

innocent of the charges that she and. everyone is entitled to. Um, when you. have licensing boards of professionals, every state operates a little bit. differently. Some states will suspend uh. some states will keep people on the job, others will suspend with pay, others. will yank licenses and suspend without. pay. South Carolina is apparently a. suspend without pay state under whatever. collective bargaining agreement the. teachers have. And and I don't think too.

many people are going to be upset about. that. And in South Carolina, I'm curious to. know your thoughts on the charges. specifically, like why criminal sexual. conduct with the minor in the second. degree as opposed to rape or statutory. rape? >> Well, that is basically statutory rape. Under the South Carolina code, our. scheme has uh three different levels of. criminal sexual conduct based on what. body parts were involved. Um that goes. back to common law origins. So that is.

essentially statutory rape. >> And in terms of just Callahan and the. treatment that she's been receiving, you. know, her case has been kind of making a. lot of headlines. But does any part of. you think that she's being treated. differently in terms of the criminal. process, especially since she's out of. jail right now? >> I I don't think so. Uh first, she's. presumed innocent. Second, I believe. she's 33 or 34 years old with no prior. record. uh to my knowledge she's been a.

contributing member of society doing a. lot of good for a lot of students. separate from this one allegation and. this one allegation um which is in two. different judicial circuits so she'll. have to deal with bond in both places. but these allegations are of a. consensual nature the law says someone. underage cannot consent but that's. different than the use of force uh to. accomplish a goal so you have a an.

underage person who participated. There's criminal exposure for Miss. Callahan if she ultimately is convicted. of the charges. But I think at this. point it is appropriate for her to be. out on bond so she can review the. discovery, work with her lawyers, do if. treatment is appropriate for her, and it. may very well be, go to treatment and. and do other things that can help her. put her life and her case in a better. position. And in South Carolina, you know, we've. seen in other cases where it's pretty.

common maybe that a defendant faces. charges in maybe multiple states, multiple counties, but in this. particular case, we kind of have that. same scenario with Nicole Callahan. facing charges in multiple counties or. jurisdictions. Talk to me a little bit. about how that works. Do you see that. pretty often in South Carolina? >> Uh, I think you see that pretty often. everywhere. I have a a number of cases. now where people are charged at one of. the counties in the state and then they. have charges similar charges in another. state. So you have to to deal with who.

is going to take priority in the case. You have to deal with bond in both. places merging the bond conditions um. and try to make it so that everyone is. is somewhat satisfied with how the case. is going to ramble forward. In this cir. circumstance, it's u I think Anderson. County and Greenbolt County. They're. neighboring judicial circuits. I would. think that those two judicial circuits, the prosecutors would have a lot of of. interaction with each other and they.

should be able to figure out which case. will proceed first. >> If a guilty plea were to be arranged, um. likely those would all be dealt with in. one hearing. So whichever county, let's. assume Greenville County takes a lead, Anderson County would be part of the. conversation about a plea plea offers. And if that's accepted, then they would. send their paperwork to Greenville, and. it could all happen in Greenville or. vice versa. >> And how difficult does that make it for.

a criminal defense attorney in order to. defend their client if they're seeing it. in multiple jurisdictions? Well, it it does complicate matters, but. here this is the same um same. employment, same alleged victim, um same. client. So, I I I it's a matter of. geography. >> Um so, I think the defense lawyer. doesn't get to choose which district. they would go first in. Um they might. like working with one prosecutor better.

than the other prosecutor and and you. don't you don't get to make the choice. So, you're playing the hand that's dealt. to you on that circumstance. >> But if you're talking about going to. trial, if you're rejecting the plea. offer and wanting to have your innocence. evaluated by a jury, it's very. challenging because you may have to deal. with other bad acts evidence from the. other district coming into your case. And then if you win the trial, you have. to go try it in the other county, too. So it really I think most people would.

think that would. >> would trigger uh some sort of double. jeopardy issue. >> The courts do not view it that way. That's one of the things where the law. and and sort of public understanding. don't mesh. >> Right. Exactly. And I think what also. makes this case a little bit unique is. that we're seeing the victim really kind. of speaking out especially to the media. coming forward and talking about this. case. something that we don't see very. often in other cases. What are your. thoughts about the victim speaking out.

now that the victim is 18 years old? >> Well, I would, you know, we live in a. world where people are speaking out on. multiple social media platforms all the. time. If he were my son, I would. encourage him not to speak out and to. keep as low a profile as possible under. the circumstance. But that's a personal. decision and and oftentimes people want. to speak out either for the in in. situations like this sometimes in.

defense of the um person who's charged. and sometimes to. in support of the prosecution. >> Yeah. >> So these are these are challenging. situations. >> and it seems like um from this. >> it's challenging for the prosecutor, >> right? And how that is. >> Go ahead. Oh, no. I was going to ask. you. >> It's difficult for the prosecutor. I. think it's difficult from the for the. prosecutor standpoint because they don't. have control then of the narrative. If. if a witness is saying something or a.

alleged victim is saying something um. that overdiscloses or or inappropriately. discloses or prejudices the defense in a. way where you would have to continue the. trial longer. It can create. complications for the prosecution. >> Does it create any complications for the. defense too in terms of maybe impacting. their defense strategy too? >> It could very much um harm the defense.

It could inflame the passions of. potential jurors and and make it. difficult for somebody to get a fair. trial. I think that would that would be. the biggest concern on for me if I were. defending Miss Callahan. question to. you, Chris, is do you see this case. actually going to trial? You know, we've. seen multiple times where cases go on. and on and on, then jury selection. begins, then all of a sudden there's a. plea deal. Do you think you can see that.

possibly happening in this case or do. you see a strong possibility it will. actually go through a trial? Well, so in the vast majority of cases. are resolved either by dismissals or or. pleas. And that's criticized by a lot of. people. Um, but there's a reason for it. And in South Carolina, we're an. underfunded state. We have too few. judges and a lot of courtrooms. So, the. only way to deal with the dockets are. for most of the cases to be resolved by.

plea bargaining. Uh that said, in this. circumstance, without ever having spoken. to Miss Callahan or her counsel, if. she's making public statements about. being pregnant with the young man's. child, then it seems like this would be. headed for some sort of plea. I don't. know how you go to trial in a statutory. rape case, a criminal sexual conduct. case with somebody underage. um if there. is if you're carrying DNA evidence uh.

that that would establish your guilt the. case. So, it sounds like it would be a. matter of sentencing that this would be. a sentencing case and that's why being. out on bond and getting whatever. treatment uh and intervention is. appropriate would could be very helpful. for her. >> And I guess we'll see how this all. continues to unfold. Chris, I want to. thank you so much for your time and your. insight into this case. Before we sign. you off though, is there anything else. you'd like to add? >> No, that's it. Thank you so much. I.

appreciate it. >> All right. Again, Chris Adams, thank you. so much for your time. I really. appreciate it, too. Today, the case is. still unfolding. Multiple counties are. pursuing charges. Prosecutors say that. the pattern of alleged grooming is. clear. As for Callahan, she's out on. bond, pregnant, and awaiting trial on. those long list of charges. The South. Carolina State Board of Education says. that her suspension will remain in. effect until due process is held or the. matter is otherwise resolved. Well, that. does it for this episode of Sidebar. If. you want to see more episodes, head over.

to the Law and Crime YouTube page, or. subscribe to us anywhere you get your. podcast, whether it's Apple Podcast, Spotify, or YouTube. I'm Elizabeth. Milner in for Jesse Weber, and this has. been Sidebar, presented by Law and. Crime. [Music].