The former parishioner, Beverly Moore, complained about the man verbally and in writing to church officials from May 2001 until she was excommunicated in October 2002. She said she was removed from the church after openly refusing to take communion wine from Mack Swafford, a lay leader. Swafford was arrested Aug. 30 on child molestation charges alleged to have occurred between 1986 and 1990.

Moore said she began her complaints in May 2001 after she claims to have seen Swafford in the church in an intimate embrace with a boy.

"I was thrown out of the church because I wouldn't be quiet," Moore said. "I was just doing the best I could do under the circumstances."

While church lay leaders deny Moore was excommunicated because of complaints about sexual abuse, one vestry member who voted for her removal said the vestry members were concerned that Moore fabricated stories about Swafford, resurrecting allegations made against him in 1994.

The Rev. Frank Seignious was the interim rector at Holy Trinity when Moore expressed concerns regarding sexual abuse in 2001. He said he excommunicated Moore, and he would not comment further until the matter is resolved in court.The Rev. Canon Kendall Harmon, a diocesan spokesman, said Bishop Edward Salmon has no comment but will be issuing a statement within the next two weeks.

Excommunication is rare in the Episcopal Church. Mark Duffy, an archivist for the national church, said the church keeps no central record of ex-communicants, but parishioners are only refused communion in extreme circumstances.

"There are very few incidents of this," he said, citing examples such as a man who spit in a priest's face or one who cursed at the altar. "Communion is one of the most basic rights in the church ... (Denying communion) is generally not done."

Rev. Professor J. Robert Wright, the Episcopal Church's primary historian, said denying a church member communion happens less than once a year.

"When someone is excommunicated, people hear about it," he said. "It would get around."

The precise reason for excommunicating Moore is not spelled out in correspondence between her and church officials. The Oct. 8, 2002, letter notifying her that she is not to return to Holy Trinity does not provide a reason for her removal. But an earlier letter to Moore, dated June 18, 2002, said her actions were "destructive" to the church.

"It is time to put the past behind ... forgive ... move on," the letter said in part. The letter did not mention her complaints about Swafford.

Moore insists she was excommunicated because she spoke out against Swafford and refused to receive wine from him at the altar. Sandra Daniels, a former vestry member, signed the letter removing Moore. She said Moore tried to split the church.

"She would sit in the congregation and shoot daggers at everyone in the church," she said.

Daniels also served as a vestry leader in 1994, when child molestation concerns involving Swafford first surfaced in the church. She said the Department of Social Services was informed at that time, and Swafford received counseling. She said she does not recall what else resulted from the DSS involvement. "This was not swept under the rug. It was not a secret."

DSS spokeswoman Marilyn Matheus said any records concerning an investigation or any action taken by DSS likely would no longer exist.

Ward Irvin serves on the vestry and voted to oust Moore two years ago. He said Moore exacerbated tension in the church by making up stories about Swafford molesting children.

"She said it was continuing," Irvin said. "She just caused too much dissension. She had an issue with Mack ... she didn't take communion from Mack."

The church had little power to act against Swafford back in 1994, he said. At that time, no charges ever were brought against Swafford.

"What could we do? We couldn't do anything," he said.

Betty Hayes, the mother of alleged victim Charlie Wilson, who is now 29 years old, said her son met with church officials about Swafford in 1994, and the church promised to conduct an investigation into Swafford.

"Nothing was ever done that I know about," Hayes said. "They did sweep it under the rug, and they did tell us to keep it quiet."

Church officials have declined to discuss what the church or DSS did in 1994.

Hayes said her son decided to go to law enforcement authorities last month.

Last Sunday, Holy Trinity's current pastor, the Rev. Peter Mitchell, instructed members of the congregation not to speak with the press on the matter. He added that Swafford would not be participating in church activities until the matter is resolved.

"I'd like to encourage you not engage in gossip, not to engage in speculation," he said during last Sunday's morning service.

Former parishioner Peter Rowe, who said he sided with Moore and recently left the church, sent a letter to the Rev. F. Clayton Matthews in the Episcopal Church's Department of Pastoral Development.

In a letter dated July 30 Rowe wrote: "I stopped attending and supporting the Holy Trinity because I felt that the leadership was acting in an irresponsible way with regards to child endangerment. ... People have made multiple sexual misconduct allegations about a parishioner involving children. In my opinion, what the church is doing about this problem is wrong."

Charleston County Sheriff's Office investigators are investigating Swafford.

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