Greenville mental health advocate takes plea deal in domestic violence case
A Greenville mental health advocate accused of attempted sexual assault had his charge dismissed in court this week.
Greenville mental health advocate takes plea deal in domestic violence case A Greenville mental health advocate accused of attempted sexual assault had his charge dismissed in court this week. Check out this story on greenvilleonline.com: https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/local/south-carolina/2019/03/14/greenville-sc-mental-health-advocate-paton-blough-domestic-violence-sexual-assault/3162908002/
Daniel J. Gross, The Greenville News Published 4:24 p.m. ET March 14, 2019 | Updated 7:51 p.m. ET March 14, 2019
A Greenville mental health advocate took a plea deal this week in connection with charges stemming from two separate incidents with a woman last summer.
John Paton Blough was originally charged with second-degree domestic violence but pleaded guilty to aggravated breach of peace. The state also dismissed his charge of third-degree assault with the intent to commit criminal sexual conduct, according to court records.
Greenville Judge Alex Kinlaw Jr. sentenced Blough to 10 years that was suspended to four years of probation.
As part of his sentencing, Blough was issued a permanent restraining order from the complainant in the case, according to a probation document. He was also required to undergo a mental health evaluation and ordered to have bi-weekly counseling sessions, the probation document states.
Paton Blough (Photo: Provided)
Blough has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and is a public speaker and advocate of mental health and criminal justice reform. He founded Rehinge, a Greenville-based nonprofit that exists to "provide hope, education and spiritual inspiration for all people affected with mental health issues," according to the organization's website.
Blough is also a member of the South Carolina board of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. He told The Greenville News on Thursday he plans to resign from the NAMI South Carolina board of directors so that he can focus solely on his family and his recovery.
He declined to comment further regarding the outcome of his case.
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The charges stemmed from an incident on Aug. 23, 2018, in which Blough came to a woman's job "in an irate manner" and followed her to her vehicle where he caused her to fear for her safety, an arrest warrant stated. He then drove his vehicle into another vehicle while the woman was standing nearby, the warrant states.
The woman also told police that days earlier Blough demanded sex and used his body weight to hold her down as she repeatedly told him no, according to the warrant.
John Paton Blough (Photo: Greenville County Detention Center)
Blough previously told The Greenville News that the attempted sexual assault never took place. He also previously said he was never questioned about the attempted sexual assault allegations after the woman reported it to Greenville police.
"It's a break of protocol and a dereliction of duty not to question me about an alleged sexual assault," he previously told The Greenville News. "He never asked my side of the story, and I was booked and my face ended up in the paper less than 24 hours later."
Greenville Police Department spokesperson Donald Porter said the department investigated Blough's complaint and found that officers followed department procedures.
"The Greenville Police Department conducted an internal investigation after Mr. Blough filed a complaint with the Department," Porter said in a message. "The investigation concluded that appropriate policies and procedures were followed and that our officers acted professionally in dealing with Mr. Blough during this incident."
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