CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) - A judge decided on Monday morning that the case against Thomas Ravenel in connection with an assault charge will take the next step toward a trial.
An attorney appeared in court for Ravenel Monday for the hearing which didn’t require an appearance from the Southern Charm star. Ravenel is accused of assaulting his children’s nanny at his home, who did appear in the courtroom.
Ravenel is charged with second degree assault and battery.
Monday’s hearing included graphic testimony from a Charleston police detective, who stated that photos show scratches on the victim, which led to the charges. On cross examination, Ravenel’s attorney stated there were problems unlocking the accuser’s cell phone. Ravenel’s attorney Cameron Blazer also told Judge Stephen Harris that it’s a case of “he said, she said."
The victim told investigators Ravenel got undressed and put the nanny’s hand on his private parts and then grabbed her private parts.
Court records state that the nanny bra’s underwire cut her skin and that she couldn’t breathe because her shirt wrapped around her neck.
The accuser, identified only as Dawn, appeared in Ravenel’s bond hearing last month, and said she believes the crime extended beyond assault and battery.
She said Ravenel’s kids and hers were “exposed to constant alcohol and drugs.”
Investigators say they have photographs taken of injuries to her neck and chest and say the photographs were “appropriately time-stamped."
They also corroborated the incident date and location through employment records of the victim and Ravenel, the affidavit states.
Bravo has said Ravenel will not return to “Southern Charm” as a cast member next season.
He had previously tweeted earlier this year that he was quitting the Bravo reality show. As of August, he was also under investigation for an alleged rape.
Ravenel was a former state treasurer elected in 2006, then resigned in 2007 when he pleaded guilty to a cocaine possession charge.
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