State Rep. Shannon Erickson introduced a bill recently that would make child molesters ineligible for parole, while Sen. Catherine Ceips sponsored a bill that would nearly eliminate parole altogether.

Most convicts in South Carolina imprisoned for misdemeanors and lesser felonies are eligible for release after serving a quarter of their sentence.

Local lawmakers, 14th Judicial Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone and S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster began talking about curbing parole in the run up to the October parole hearing for a former Coosa Elementary School teacher convicted of molesting at least nine students.

The former teacher, Philip Underwood-Sheppard, was sentenced in 2003 to 25 years in prison. He waived his right to the October hearing, his first, but is eligible for an additional parole hearing every year.

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