3 accused in student sex case

GREENWOOD, S.C. - A South Carolina National Guardsman who recruited at a high school and a former cheerleading coach each are accused of having sex with students, and the principal is charged with hindering the investigation, authorities said.

Former Ware Shoals High School coach Jill Moore, 28, took cheerleaders to a motel, where they met guardsmen for sex, according to Greenwood County sheriff's reports released late Thursday.

Moore, a married mother of two, also is accused of having sex with a male student, according to the reports.

Because all the students were old enough to consent under state law, none of the adults face sex charges, according to the sheriff's reporters.

Moore is charged with supplying alcohol and cigarettes to students and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. She resigned earlier this month.

Principal Jane Blackwell is accused of telling cheerleaders and a school staff member not to talk about the allegations against Moore, authorities said. She was charged Monday with obstruction.

Two soldiers were suspended as part of the National Guard's investigation. The Guard said in a news release yesterday that its investigation was continuing.

The sheriff's reports state Moore was having an affair with Sgt. First Class Thomas Fletcher, 29, a guardsman whom she met through the school.

Last year, Moore told two cheerleaders she was taking them to visit a prospective college, the reports said. Instead, they went to a motel where she met Fletcher in one room, gave the cheerleaders vodka, and put them in a room with Sgt. Jeremy Pileggi, according to the reports.

Pileggi, 21, acknowledged having sex with a cheerleader last year, and one of the cheerleaders said she watched Moore and Fletcher have sex, according to the reports.

Moore and Blackwell have denied the allegations.

Moore and Pileggi did not immediately respond to phone messages. A woman answering Fletcher's phone said, "He can't talk right now" and hung up.