A 26-year-old Simpsonville resident has been handed a four-decade prison term after being convicted of severe child abuse offenses. Circuit Court Judge Patrick Fant III imposed the sentence on Abbygale El-Dier.
Her partner, Jacob Lance, 29, who is already serving a 30-year sentence for a 2015 manslaughter conviction in Anderson County, received an additional 40 years for his involvement in criminal sexual misconduct with a minor.
The investigation began when South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson initiated a crackdown on contraband within state correctional facilities. Prison staff discovered that El-Dier had transmitted numerous videos and photographs to Lance depicting the sexual abuse of her three-year-old daughter, who is not biologically related to Lance.
Cortney Rea, an assistant solicitor with the 13th Circuit, described this as the most disturbing case she has ever handled, emphasizing the profound trauma inflicted upon the young victim.
"I have tried to put this into words, but how vile these acts are, words fall short. Inhuman, disgusting, horrific, but what the defendant really did to her child is just evil," Rea stated. "Everyone who has touched this case has been negatively affected by their perversion. What this defendant (El-Dier) did to this child is incomprehensible."
El-Dier also received a five-year sentence for first-degree sexual exploitation, while Lance was given three years for sexual exploitation of a minor, to be served concurrently with his existing term.
Prosecutors revealed that from August 2022 to August 2023, El-Dier and Lance exchanged messages discussing the abuse of the child. Their communications also included plans for Lance to abuse the child, along with proposals to drug her and other children. Authorities were alerted to these exchanges after an anonymous tip was provided to the Simpsonville Police Department.
Following the tip, law enforcement arrested El-Dier, and agents from the Attorney General's Office seized Lance's phone. El-Dier entered a guilty plea in July, with Lance following suit in November.
Background of the Offenders
In March 2018, Jacob Lance and his brother Ernest were convicted of beating Todd Cantlay to death before setting his Pendleton residence on fire. Jacob Lance is currently incarcerated at the Lee County Correctional Facility in Bishopville.
El-Dier's legal representative, Greenville attorney Will Hellams, along with her family, alleged that Lance had manipulated and psychologically abused her.
"We will always regret not catching on to how truly severe the situation was every day for the rest of our lives. We are so disappointed that our granddaughter will have to grow up knowing about these horrific events. The therapy she will have to go through will never be enough," the victim's advocate expressed during the court proceedings.
During the hearing, Lance presented a contrasting account, asserting that El-Dier initiated discussions about the abuse and that he felt coerced into continuing the conversations. He claimed that if he refused, she threatened to cut off communication and report his illicit cellphones to the Department of Corrections.
"I felt forced to go along with it because I didn't want her calling a search team and turning it all around on me to make it seem like I'm some creep," Lance testified.
Broader Contraband Initiative
This prosecution is part of a broader effort by the Attorney General's Office to address the possession of contraband cellphones in prisons. The State Grand Jury investigated and indicted each case under this initiative.
El-Dier's family reported that they had notified the South Carolina Department of Corrections about Lance on multiple occasions, but he managed to maintain access to several phones, rotating between them to communicate with El-Dier.
David Fernandez, assistant deputy for the Attorney General's Office, remarked that the documented conversations between El-Dier and Lance represented only a fraction of the abuse inflicted upon the daughter.
"What has been provided today, your honor, is simply a snippet of the luminous conversation between the two. These were no fantasies; these were actions that were acted out in real time by El-Dier for the benefit of Jacob Lance," Assistant Deputy Attorney General David Fernandez stated during the hearing.
