Don Williams

Introduction

Don Williams is the former senior pastor of Pawleys Island Community Church in Pawleys Island, South Carolina. On July 20, 2026, Williams, his wife Ginny Williams, and Pawleys Island Christian Academy director Niki Howard were arrested alongside Warren Perry, a convicted sex offender, after a Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office investigation into Perry’s role at the church while a daycare and school operated on its campus. Williams was charged with obstruction of justice, unlawfully placing a child at risk, and criminal conspiracy. The arrests came days after Williams, his wife, and Howard resigned from their positions following public backlash over Perry’s involvement at the church. Williams faces criminal charges, not convictions: nothing in the available reporting indicates the allegations have been tested in court, and he is entitled to the presumption of innocence.

Background Information

Williams led Pawleys Island Community Church as senior pastor until his resignation in July 2026. His wife, Ginny Williams, held an administrative role at the church and was identified in the charging announcements as its guest services director. The church’s campus also housed Pawleys Island Christian Academy, directed by Niki Howard, which offers programs for children from six weeks old to kindergarten age. Perry’s connection to the congregation began in 2020, when he started attending the church and, per Sheriff Carter Weaver, became “what anybody would call employed” with it shortly after his arrest. Authorities said Perry volunteered at the church seven days a week and worked as a custodian at the academy. Williams publicly acknowledged that he and other church leaders knew about Perry’s conviction, saying leadership made a judgment call about how widely to share the information.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Allegations. The claims in this section are allegations from the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office, arrest warrants, and statements at Sheriff Carter Weaver’s July 20, 2026 press conference, as reported by WPDE and WMBF/FOX10. Don Williams, Ginny Williams, and Niki Howard have been charged but not tried, and nothing alleged against them has been adjudicated; each is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. The one adjudicated fact described here is Warren Perry’s own 2023 guilty plea, a matter of court record.

The case began on July 13, 2026, when a concerned parent contacted the sheriff’s office after learning that Perry was working as a custodian at the academy. WPDE reported the investigation began one week before the arrests, after the parent alleged the church was allowing a registered sex offender around children attending the church’s school. Investigators contacted South Carolina Probation, Parole and Pardon Services, which determined Perry had violated the terms of his probation.

At a July 20 press conference, Weaver played video of a deputy telling Don Williams that Perry was being arrested; Williams allegedly told the deputy that Perry had not been around children. Weaver showed two photos that allegedly show Perry around children — one appearing to show an adult washing Perry’s feet with children nearby, the other showing Perry at a water day event. “Warren Perry is not around children? Warren Perry is not around children at the Pawleys Island Christian Academy? … These photos right here, along with numerous others, clearly show Mr. Perry in close proximity to the children. And who do you think allowed that? This is sickening in and of itself,” Weaver said.

All four individuals are accused of withholding Perry’s sex offender status and his presence at the academy. Don Williams and Howard are additionally accused of knowingly allowing a registered sex offender contact with minors, concealing that information from teachers and staff, and placing children at unreasonable risk of harm. According to the warrants, Perry conspired with church leadership to conceal the particulars of his probation requirements, and investigators said Perry never informed his probation officer that the church operated a daycare and school on the property.

The charges, as announced: Don Williams — obstruction of justice, unlawfully placing a child at risk or causing a child harm, and criminal conspiracy; Ginny Williams — criminal conspiracy and obstruction; Perry — criminal conspiracy and obstruction; Howard — unlawfully placing a child at risk or willfully abandoning the child, conspiracy, criminal conspiracy, and obstruction of justice. Perry’s own criminal history is adjudicated: he pleaded guilty in November 2023 to sexual exploitation of a minor and was sentenced to 10 years, suspended to five years of probation, with a condition prohibiting contact with minors.

Public Reaction and Consequences

Public reaction preceded the arrests: Williams, his wife, and Howard resigned days earlier following public backlash over Perry’s involvement at the church. Don Williams resigned on Friday, the same day a $25 million lawsuit alleging negligence was filed against the church and school over Perry’s involvement. Announcing the arrests, Weaver said: “This recklessness, as exhibited in the video, and lack of responsibility and the church’s role to ensure a convicted sex offender is not allowed around minor children, allowed for investigators to discover an abundance of evidence through sworn statements and search warrants.”

Current Status

As of the July 20–21, 2026 reporting, all four defendants had been arrested and charged; none of the three church figures had been tried, and no adjudication of the charges appears in the available record. Perry remained in custody at the Georgetown County Detention Center awaiting a bond hearing; the Williamses were arrested in Summerville and were being extradited back to Georgetown County; and Howard turned herself in at the detention center. Bond hearings were expected Tuesday, and Weaver said the investigation remains ongoing.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Williams’s pastorate is over: his Friday resignation preceded his arrest by days and landed the same day the $25 million lawsuit was filed against the church and school. He had publicly acknowledged that church leaders knew of Perry’s conviction and treated its dissemination as a judgment call. The charges are accusations, not findings: nothing alleged against him has been tested in court, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. His ministerial career ends with a resignation under public backlash followed within days by arrest — a collapse measured in less than two weeks from the concerned parent’s July 13 call to the July 20 charging announcements.