The owner of Carolina Karate and Fitness in Indian Land turned himself in to Chester County authorities and is waiting for an evaluation that will determine if he will be civilly confined under the state's Sexually Violent Predator Act.

Kenneth Jerome White, 40, of 5773 Willowbrook Road, Fort Lawn, turned himself in Wednesday, Aug. 6. He served six months in 2004 for two sexual assault convictions. Before his release in 2004, White's convictions were reviewed by two panels and sent to a circuit court judge to determine if there was probable cause to send White to the Department of Mental Health for evaluation.

In 2004, a circuit court judge found no probable cause to hold White as a sexually violent predator. The attorney general's office appealed that ruling and it was overturned. White then appealed the circuit court ruling to the South Carolina Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case in July.

With the appeals exhausted, White was ordered to turn himself in for evaluation in August. His wife, Kerri White, drove him to the Chester County Sheriff's Office on Aug. 6. On Aug. 21, Kenneth White was waiting to be transferred to the South Carolina Department of Mental Health for his evaluation.

Based on the findings of the evaluation, White could be released or civilly confined as a sexually violent predator. Civil confinement is indefinite, said Mark Plowden, spokesman for the attorney general's office, "until such time as they can be adjudged to longer be a threat to the community."

The confinement would be at a South Carolina Department of Mental Health facility.

According to Plowden, White "would not be in jail, but if he is adjudged a sexually violent predator, it is for an indefinite period and he is not allowed to come and go as he pleases," Plowden said.

Kerri White has been married to Kenneth for two years and said he explained his history to her when they met. He is equally open with people who work with him at Carolina Karate and Fitness and his studio in Lancaster, Kenaki Karate, she said.

"That's not something we hide," Kerri White said. "He has a wonderful support group."

White said she supports her husband and is shocked that after three years "without so much as a speeding ticket" he is back in jail and awaiting evaluation.

She said she doesn't want to think about what she and her family will do if Kenneth White is civilly confined indefinitely.

"We are God-fearing people. God is first in our life. We don't dwell on 'if.' We don't have that in our vocabulary. Whatever happens, we'll be taken care of," she said.