A convicted sex offender stood up in court on Friday and pleaded guilty to eight charges, including rape and kidnapping, but despite two prior similar convictions, South Carolina doesn?t officially consider Ernest James Lawton a sexual predator.

Deputies said that on the day before he pleaded guilty to the charges, Lawton, 40, sexually and physically assaulted the woman in her Troy home, and then bound her in tape and forced her at knifepoint into her own vehicle and drove her to a remote location where he left her locked in the van.

When deputies and officers who were searching for the woman got close to the van in a remote area northern Greenwood County, she was able to blow the horn to draw their attention.

She was taken to SELF Regional Medical Center for treatment.

After a four and a half hour search, deputies found and arrested Lawton. He is charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct, burglary, kidnapping, armed robbery, grand larceny, carjacking, and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent felony.

In 1983, Lawton was convicted of criminal sexual conduct, the same charge as he faces now, committed with the same type of weapon -- a knife.

In 1983, he was convicted of trying to sexually assault a victim. But in spite of those convictions, on the state sex offender registry, Lawton is registered as an offender, but not as a sexual predator.

Eight Circuit Court Solicitor Jerry Peace said, ?You hear this from time to time where somebody has committed another offense -- but we've got dedicated people looking at it and you just have to make your decision based on what you have before you."

Peace helps decide whether a person should be listed as a predator. He said Lawton?s predator status was up for review last August, but it was dismissed in April. If it hadn?t been dismissed, Lawton would still have been in jail.

Peace said, "The whole program is to protect society, but even in protecting society, you have to be cognizant of the rights of the individual."

WYFF News 4's Mandy Gaither learned that the process to designate someone a sexual predator in South Carolina is complicated and lengthy. First, two different committees review every violent sex offender's case and mental state. If those committees decide that person is a threat, a judge then decides whether or not their decisions are valid.

If the judge agrees with the committes, the next step is an evaluation by a psychiatrist. If everyone agrees the person is a predator, it's still not over. A jury has the final decision.

Peace said, "If they make that finding, then the person continues to be confined to receive long-term care."

Lawton appeared at a bond hearing on Friday where he said he wanted to plead guilty to all eight charges.

He was denied bond on the burglary charges. For the other seven charges, his bond was set at a total of $2 million.

He was denied the chance for a preliminary hearing.

Despite Lawton?s non-predator status, Gaither said it is likely that Lawton will be behind bars for a long time. The crimes to which he pleaded guilty carry up to a life-sentence without chance of parole.