RIDGELAND, SC (July 22, 2025) – An inmate serving 25-year prison sentence at the Ridgeland Correctional Institute will continue to be incarcerated for an additional 29 years for raping and kidnapping a 68-year-old commissary worker.
Ahmad Rashad Bonds, 41, pleaded guilty Tuesday at the Jasper County Courthouse to first-degree criminal sexual conduct and kidnapping.
Bonds was already serving a 25-year prison sentence for first-degree criminal sexual conduct, first-degree burglary and armed robbery when he attacked a longtime prison employee on March 6, 2019, as she was working in the prison’s storage area.
A jury had already been selected for Bonds’ trial but had yet to hear testimony in the case. Bonds decided to enter a guilty plea Tuesday morning before the jury was called in. He received 29 years for both charges, with the sentences to be served concurrently.
“The victim in this case is ready to put this nightmare behind her and move on with her life,” said Hunter Swanson of the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, who prosecuted the case. “Today’s outcome provides a modicum of closure to the victim who endured a violent attack.”
The commissary worker had finished her shift but was documenting some damaged items in the prison’s stockroom when Bonds snuck into the restricted area through an unlocked door.
“He waited for an opportunity to attack the victim, and he got his chance when she went to the restroom to wash her hands,” Swanson said. “Wearing a face covering, he attacked her from behind, pushing her to the floor.”
Investigators with the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division documented blood smearing on the bathroom’s walls and floor. During the struggle, the woman was able to pull Bonds’ face covering from his face. And, as he dragged her down the hall, he threatened to kill her since she had seen his face.
She attempted to call for help, but Bonds intercepted and beat the woman about the head with the phone’s handset.
The woman was finally able to push a filing cabinet and table against a storage room’s door, but Bonds again attempted to gain access. This time, she fought him off by spraying chemicals in his face. He eventually left the storage area to return to his cell block for a 7 p.m. roll call. The woman was discovered about two hours later where she was treated by a prison nurse and later at the hospital. The next day, the woman positively identified her attacker in a photo lineup and gave a detailed account of the assault. DNA collected during the sexual assault exam came back to Bonds.
Circuit Court Judge Robert Bonds handed down Tuesday’s sentence. The judge and the defendant are of no relation.
Swanson leads the Solicitor’s Office Special Victims Unit, which prosecutes cases involving domestic violence, sexual assault and other crimes against vulnerable populations. She also is a member of Career Criminal Unit, which prosecutes the circuit’s most violent and habitual offenders. That team has earned convictions against 523 of 574 defendants it has prosecuted since its inception in 2009.
