WALHALLA, SC–On December 16, 2019, Anthony Hugh Sluder, age 67, of Westminster, pled guilty to 5 counts of Criminal Sexual Conduct with a Minor Second Degree and 5 counts of Incest. He was sentenced by the Honorable Cordell Maddox to 25 years.
On December 18, 2019, his wife, Edna Sluder, age 56, pled guilty to 5 counts of Criminal Sexual Conduct with a Minor Second Degree and 5 counts of Incest. She was sentenced by the Honorable Cordell Maddox to 20 years.
In December of 2018, a male relative of the couple came forward to the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office and recounted years of sexual abuse at the hands of the Sluders during the 2000’s timeframe. He reported repeated, continuous abuse by both Mr. and Mrs. Sluder, acting together, over multiple years during his early adolescence. When confronted by law enforcement, both Mr. and Mrs. Sluder confessed to repeatedly sexually abusing the boy. They recounted using sexual abuse as a form of punishment for not completing things such as ordinary household chores, referring to the punishment as “naked sessions.” Mrs. Sluder also expressed the couple’s belief that sexual education should begin in the home.
Solicitor David R. Wagner said “The crimes perpetrated by Anthony and Edna Sluder are some of most disturbing that I have seen during the course of my prosecutorial career. The victim in this case has suffered immensely and I hope this resolution will provide some measure of justice for him. Anthony and Edna Sluder deserve every day in prison that they received.”