Beaufort Co. man facing 12 years in prison for 2017 assault, armed robbery in Sheldon
A Beaufort County man was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Monday after pleading guilty to a 2017 assault and armed robbery in Sheldon.
Easin Bell Rivers, 31, of Yemassee, pleaded guilty Monday to one count of assault and battery in the first degree and one count of armed robbery, according to the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
Rivers was originally accused of sexual assault and two counts of armed robbery. According to previous reporting in The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette, a male and female victim said they were robbed at gunpoint at 3 a.m. Dec. 15, 2017 in a park near Booker T. Washington Circle off Big Estate Road.
The woman said she was also sexually assaulted.
She drove to Beaufort Memorial Hospital and called police.
They identified Rivers. The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office arrested him in April 2018 and charged him with criminal sexual conduct and two counts of armed robbery.
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Prosecutors later reduced the sexual assault charge to assault and battery in the first degree, according to Solicitor’s Office spokesperson Jeff Kidd.
He declined to explain why.
The armed robbery charge pertaining to the male victim was also dropped.
On June 11, 2019, the Solicitor’s Office was “unable to prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt,” Assistant Solicitor Hunter Swanson wrote in dismissing the case.
Courtney Gibbes, Rivers’ public defender, did not respond to phone or text messages on Tuesday.
