Male victim speaks out: South Carolina former teacher accused of years-long explicit abuse of a minor

Content warning: This article describes sexual abuse of a minor. Please take care while reading.

Nicole Ballew Callaham, 33, a former kindergarten teacher at Homeland Park Primary School in Anderson County, South Carolina, is facing multiple felony charges for allegedly sexually abusing a male student over several years, beginning when he was just 14.

Grant Strickland, the student, now 18, came forward earlier this year, telling authorities the abuse began while he was still a minor.

The alleged abuse

Authorities allege Callaham initiated a sexual relationship with Strickland in 2021. From 2021 and over the next two years, she is accused of transporting him from school, providing him with marijuana, alcohol, and nicotine, and engaging in sexual acts with him at various locations—including a Greenville hotel and a parking garage.

Callaham turned herself in to the authorities in July 2025. She was initially charged in Anderson County, then later in Greenville, where additional counts were filed.

Strickland told the press, “It happens a lot. And it’s not just the women, it’s men too. And it happens to young children, and it’s got to stop. Just because I am a man, I should not be shunned away. I was a child. I was not a man, I was a boy.”

Details of the investigation

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Office launched an investigation in May 2025, followed by parallel inquiries from Greenville Police and Clemson City Police. Strickland’s family cooperated, and investigators collected digital and testimonial evidence.

Callaham taught at Homeland Park Primary from 2017 until her resignation on May 21, 2025. She was also active in the community as the director of musical theater productions—a position through which she first met the victim’s family.

Callaham, a mother who is currently pregnant, had no prior criminal record before she turned herself in. She was granted bond during a July 14 Greenville County hearing under strict conditions: house arrest at her fiancé’s home, GPS monitoring, and no contact with the victim or his family. As of July 15, 2025, she remains free on bond while awaiting trial on charges filed in both Greenville and Anderson Counties.

If you know someone suffering from sexual violence, contact RAINN or the National Sexual Abuse Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673