A young man, the victim of a teacher who has been charged with criminal sexual conduct with a minor that began when he was a young teen, is publicly speaking out and advocating for justice and prevention, a rare occurrence in such cases.
Grant Strickland, now 18, not only has helped police with their investigation, but also bravely went on camera outside a courtroom, saying he wanted the public to know he was “here to fight and I’m not going to back down, and I think more awareness needs to be brought to things like this. Just because I’m a man doesn’t mean it should be shunted away. Because I was a child.”
Nicole Ballew Callaham, 33, was a teacher in Anderson School District 5 in Greenville, South Carolina, a town of about 70,000 approximately two hours south of Charlotte. She has been charged with three counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor and one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Local detectives started investigating Callaham in May and determined the alleged misconduct began in 2021 and lasted for at least two years. She began “grooming behavior” with the boy in his early teen years, authorities in the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office told news outlets.
The New York Post reported:
“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,” the sheriff’s office said. “These repeated interactions led to a prolonged pattern of abuse, which was corroborated by search warrants and ongoing cooperation with the victim’s family.”
A detective also submitted a letter in court from Strickland’s mother, a local news station reported. It indicated their family first met the teacher while she was in charge of school musical theater productions.
The former teacher turned herself in to authorities this week. Strickland spoke at her bond hearing.
“I would love to bring more awareness to show that this happens,” he said. “And it happens a lot, and it’s not just to women, it’s to men, too, and it happens to young children, and it’s gotta stop.”
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the author of the New York Times best seller House of Secrets, which documents one of the worst cases of child sexual abuse in U.S. history, and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more
