RALEIGH – There are many unanswered questions about the R.C. Soles saga. Unfortunately for the longtime state senator from Tabor City, it’s likely that none of the possible answers to those questions will help him.

Soles is reportedly under investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation regarding two matters: 1) alleged molestation of teenagers and any related crimes, and 2) the shooting incident a couple of weeks ago involving Soles and former client Kyle Blackburn.

More generally, news reports going back several months now describe a troubled, expensive, and sometimes violent set of relationships between the senator and a number of teenaged boys and young men in and around Tabor City. Most if not all former legal clients of his – meaning that most if not all have criminal records and drug addictions.

According to multiple accounts, Soles has provided sizable gifts, sometimes numbering many thousands of dollars, to these youths. Over the years, a pattern has emerged. The youths approach Soles, sometimes privately but often publicly, and “request” money or other assistance. If he is not immediately forthcoming, the argument turns heated. Sometimes it escalates to the point where a teen or young man threatens to embarrass or endanger Soles by going public with explosive allegations, apparently of sexual misconduct. At other times, the argument escalates to threatened or actual violence.

Sometimes Soles appears to respond to these threats with gifts or legal help. At other times, he calls the police, then declines to press charges and often provides gifts or legal help at that point.

Soles denies all charges of sexual misconduct and chalks these difficulties up to a generous nature. He’s even gone as far as to accuse political enemies of orchestrating or exaggerating these incidents, and to explain the media furor as having been caused by Yankees who just don’t understand the close-knit nature of small-town life in Coastal Carolina.

Well, I grew up in North Carolina, too, in a mostly rural area, so I feel confident rejecting Soles’ silly excuses. Most Carolina small towns do not feature this kind of political and legal freakshow. Most criminal-defense attorneys do not become piggybanks for the punks they represent, and few would long tolerate being chronically extorted by them. Most state lawmakers steer clear of such controversies, rather than repeatedly creating more of them.

I’m not saying that the most extreme or salacious allegations about Soles must be true. The SBI investigation hasn’t concluded, and plenty of questions simply can’t be answered right now given the information that is publicly available. However, I think it is still possible to conclude, based on what we know right now, that R.C. Soles has exercised extremely poor judgment at the very least – judgment that goes beyond the strictly personal.

Think about it this way:

• If R.C. Soles has molested teens who are also his legal clients, he is guilty of serious criminal and professional misconduct.

• If Soles is innocent of that charge but has engaged in sexual relationships with adult clients, he may still be guilty of serious professional misconduct.

• If Soles has never had such relationships with clients but is a closeted gay man who fears the personal and political consequences of exposure, then you can feel sorry for him while also recognizing that his decision to give in to extortion has facilitated and contributed to the delinquency of many minors, wasted countless hours of tax-funded police time, and subjected himself and his community to statewide ridicule.

• Finally, if Soles is the unluckiest and most gullible 74-year-old confirmed bachelor in the history of North Carolina, who has nothing to hide but just thinks it’s reasonable to create public spectacles and shower thousands of dollars worth of gifts on drunken punks, then I’d question his competence to make good decisions about any matters of legal or political importance.

Talk about your no-win scenario.

Hood is president of the John Locke Foundation