“Southern Charm” star and former South Carolina state treasurer Thomas Ravenel plead guilty to third-degree assault and battery Wednesday in Charleston County court, avoiding a 30-day jail sentence which was suspended to a $500 fine, according to local Charleston CBS affiliate WCSC.
The reality star was accused of assaulting his children’s nanny in a January 2015 incident in which Ravenel got undressed and put her hand on his genitals, and also forcibly removing her clothes, WCSC reported.
Ravenel agreed with the facts of the case, and said in court Wednesday, “Your honor, on the night of the incident I did attempt to kiss her and in so doing I grabbed her arm and that was wrong, and I am much appreciative of the opportunity to apologize to her in court today,” according to WCSC.
Ravenel has said he will not be returning to “Southern Charm.” He did not appear in the latest season of the reality TV show, which recently finished airing its sixth season. Bravo declined TheWrap’s request for comment Wednesday. The former politician who once ran a failed campaign for the U.S. Senate as an independent starred on the Bravo reality series from 2014 to 2016.
The ex-reality star was previously accused of sexual assault in 2018, when real estate agent and model Ashley Perkins came forward on behalf of her mother, Debbie Holloway Perkins, who accused Ravenel of attempting to rape her after a Tinder date in October 2015. Perkins told People that they later hired Gloria Allred to represent her mother, and the two parties reached a settlement agreement for $200,000, with Holloway Perkins signing a non-disclosure agreement.