Judge dismisses 2 charges in assault case against Beaufort County restaurant owner

Two of the charges in the case of a Beaufort County restaurant owner accused of sexual assault were dismissed by a judge Friday.

Ken Reed, owner of Maggie’s Pub in Habersham Marketplace, was arrested in September and charged with assault and criminal sexual conduct related to reports from five women who said Reed had assaulted them.

In a preliminary hearing Friday, Beaufort County Magistrate Judge Nancy Sadler dismissed two charges of third-degree criminal sexual conduct for lack of probable cause, said Jared Newman, Reed’s attorney. Newman said he was able to show using passport records that Reed was out of the country on each of the dates of the alleged incidents listed in the arrest warrants.

A spokesman for the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office confirmed the charges had been dropped and declined to comment on whether prosecutors would continue to pursue the dismissed charges.

Prosecutors have the option of still bringing the charges to a grand jury to seek an indictment, Newman said.

Five women told Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office investigators about instances in which Reed allegedly physically or sexually assaulted them between May 2017 and May 2018, an agency release said. The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette reported in August about three former employees who say Reed assaulted them.

An 18-year-old woman said Reed groped her and put his mouth on her breast after she gave him a ride to his house in July, according to a Sheriff’s Office report and what she told the newspapers. Another woman said Reed exposed himself to her and forced himself into her mouth one night at the restaurant in April.

Another woman told investigators and a reporter that Reed had groped her multiple times between February and March.

Newman said his client is innocent and that he has evidence allegations related to the remaining assault charges are “highly improbable.”

Erin Wetherington, one of the women alleging an incident, said she also disputes a date the solicitor’s office told her is on the arrest warrant. She says the time period she wrote in a police report for her incident is different.

The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette did not have a copy of the arrest warrants at press time.

This story was originally published November 2, 2018 at 5:19 PM.