A mentally-challenged Conway, S.C., man claims he’s been physically abused by his employer and says it’s been happening for years upon years.
37-year-old John Christopher Smith stated while in the safety of an advocate’s company:
?He would beat me with belts and all that. Take the tongs to the grease on my neck.?
Smith continued:
?I want him to go to prison, and I want to be there when he go.?
Smith was long ago diagnosed with delayed cognitive development, which leaves him functioning intellectually behind most others.
Smith says he’s been employed at the downtown J&J Cafeteria ever since he was a tween, staring as a dishwasher at 12 years old, and eventually working his way up to cook. Over the years, however, he’s worked all sorts of random tasks at the Cafeteria. Smith says:
?I started off washing dishes after school.?
And the job was enjoyable for Smith, at least until the owner’s 50-year-old brother, Bobby Paul Edwards started in on Smith with abuse, back in 2010. That means Smith gave roughly 20 years of loyal service to the J&J before Edwards came in and started taking a belt to Smith, or choking him, slapping him around, even punching him now and then with a closed, hard fist.
Smith claims he never uttered a word about the abuse due to being scared. Perhaps he was concerned about the logistics of having to seek new employment after 20 years with his mental condition, too, and clearly Edwards saw an easy target in Smith if the allegations are true.
According to Smith, has scars on his back from Edwards burning him with hot tongs ? most likely the tongs used to fetch items from the fryers, as Smith mentioned earlier. A doctor from the Conway Physicians Group in nearby Aynor corroborated the scars on Smith’s back October 20 of last year.
Smith’s advocate Geneane Caines says:
?It’s total abuse.?
Caines? daughter in law works as a server at the J&J Cafeteria, as well, which is how she came to be involved. She was familiar with Smith’s case, and says she felt compelled to get involved simply because she cares.
When asked how such disgraceful behavior could have been going on for more than four years, Caines replied:
?Well, costumers that were going in there would hear stuff and they didn’t know what was going on, and they would ask the waitresses, and the waitresses were so scared of Bobby they wouldn’t tell them then what it was.”
It seems Smith was not the only employee working in fear of Edwards, which does not bode well for Edwards? defense.
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Eventually, Caines stepped up and reported the alleged abuse to local authorities. She also took Smith to an area NAACP meeting last October in order to seek help in the matter. Social Services was also contacted at that time.
According to an Oct. 10, 2014 police report, local police helped Social Services extricate Smith from J&J and transfer him to a safe location. Edwards was arrested about a month later on misdemeanor charges for 2nd degree assault.
President of the Conway NAACP chapter, Abdullah Mustafa, stated with a great deal of outrage:
“Anyone who is rational and has any sense of logic should realize once you have the facts right here, it should be more than just assault.?
The NAACP president feels the agency in charge of investigating the case ? SLED ? is going too soft on Edwards by pressing merely 2nd degree assault charges against him. Mustafa intends to file complaints independently with both the Department of Justice and the Department of Labor on Smith’s behalf. Mustafa stated:
?We are talking about enslavement here.?
As of now, Edwards is currently roaming free on a $10,000 bond with strings attached. He is prohibited from going anywhere near Smith in the interim, and must gain permission from the court in order to leave the state.
Edwards is declining to comment on the case ? surprise, surprise ? nor will SLED offer comments until the conclusion of the case.
In the meantime, the alleged abuser’s brother and owner of the J&J Cafeteria, Ernest Edwards, was perfectly willing to speak out at length on the case. Edwards claims he was entirely unaware of any of the actions alleged against his brother, primarily because he does not spend a lot of time around the business. According to Edwards, most of his time is taken up with two other restaurants in the Myrtle Beach area.
In the four months since Smith has been free of the Cafeteria, Caines claims his spirits are improving greatly. She stated:
?He’s a total different person now; he holds his head up high, he’s very happy, very outgoing, he don’t even act the same.?
Bobby Paul Edwards? next court appearance over the matter is scheduled for March 13 at 8:30 in the morning.
H/T: wmbfnews.com | Featured image: via wmbfnews.com screengrab
