Suspect in Beaufort County child’s sexual assault arrested in Indiana, police say
A St. Helena Island man was arrested in Indiana and brought back to Beaufort County by deputies earlier this week on charges of first-degree criminal sexual conduct.
Daniel Paul Mahoney, 20, is accused of sexually assaulting a minor younger than 11 in the county sometime between Jan. 1, 2018, and May 7, 2019, when the assault was reported.
The majority of details in the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report on what led to Mahoney’s arrest are redacted, which is typical in cases involving sexual assault. State law also requires that identifying information about minors be redacted.
Mahoney was booked into the Beaufort County Detention Center around noon Wednesday and was still incarcerated as of Thursday morning, according to the jail log. He also faces a second-degree assault and battery charge.
A bond hearing for both charges was scheduled for Thursday, county court documents say.
In South Carolina, first-degree criminal sexual conduct is punishable by up to 30 years imprisonment, and second-degree assault and battery is punishable by a fine of up to $2,500 and as many as 3 years in prison.
Although Mahoney’s address according to court documents and a police report is on St. Helena, his address listed in the jail log is in Bloomington, Indiana.
He’s previously been arrested and charged with multiple misdemeanors on different occasions between January 2018 and December 2019 in Indiana, some of which were later dismissed, according to state court documents. None of those charged was related to sexual assault.
