Southern Charm's Thomas Ravenel Pleads Guilty to Assault, Avoids Jail by Paying a $500 Fine
Thomas Ravenel has pleaded guilty to third-degree assault and battery after his children’s former nanny accused him of rape, PEOPLE confirms.
The former Southern Charm star, 57, appeared in Charleston County court Wednesday morning, where he received a 30-day sentence suspended to a $500 fine for the crime, according to WCSC. Ravenel will pay a $500 fine.
While Ravenel’s victim was not present in court, the judge read a letter she had written to the reality star. Ravenel agreed to the facts of the case.
On Sept. 25, 2018, the Southern Charm star, 56, was arrested and charged with assault and battery in the second degree, four months after Nanny Dawn accused him of rape. (She asked that she be publicly identified by her first name and occupation for her own privacy.)
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Dawn did not immediately return PEOPLE’s request for comment on Ravenel’s sentencing.
Dawn alleged that in 2015, while his daughter Kensington Calhoun (with ex-girlfriend and costar Kathryn Dennis) was sleeping nearby, Ravenel “corralled” her into the master bedroom, dropped his pants, blocked the door and “proceeded to rip my clothes off.” Without going into further detail, Dawn said she eventually got away.
According to the affidavit, issued by the Charleston Police Department and obtained by PEOPLE, “the victim, to be named later at the court’s discretion, was working for the defendant as a nanny at the above location. While inside the location, [Ravenel] undressed and made sexual advances on the victim.”
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“After escaping the assault, the victim called her then ex-husband and sister and told them of the incident, fled the scene and notified several family members of the incident. Photographs were then taken immediately of the injuries to her neck and chest,” the affidavit states. “Detectives corroborated the incident date and location through employment records of the victim and defendant, and interviewed multiple witnesses, to be named at the court’s discretion, who substantiated the post-assault information. Detectives also retrieved the photographs taken by the victim, which are appropriately time-stamped in reference to the incident.”
“Although I believe he should be in jail for his crimes, the reality according to statistics is that he will go unpunished,” Dawn previously told PEOPLE.
Ravenel denied Dawn’s allegations through his lawyer, as well as a separate sexual assault accusation from a woman he met on Tinder in 2015.
“My client enjoys a certain degree of fame, which has unfortunately made him a vulnerable target for such claims,” Ravenel’s late attorney, Richard P. Terbrusch, told PEOPLE in a statement after the allegations. “The person this woman describes is simply not the man that I know. My client is a loving father, successful businessman, and upright member of the community. He is appalled and hurt by these allegations — and is committed to defending his reputation in the appropriate legal forum.” (Terbrusch was killed in a plane crash in October.)
Following Ravenel’s arrest, Bravo confirmed that he would not be returning as a cast member of Southern Charm.
