Man accused of following women in Beaufort Walmart and exposing himself, police say
A St. Helena Island man is accused of following women in a Walmart in Beaufort and touching himself, according to authorities.
The Beaufort Police Department charged the 51-year-old man with indecent exposure, a misdemeanor in South Carolina, on Saturday, jail records show.
The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette newspapers typically do not name those charged with misdemeanors or lesser offenses.
On Saturday after 4 p.m., Beaufort Police responded to Walmart on S.C. 170 to a report of a man exposing himself, a police report said.
A woman told a Beaufort officer that she thought a man was following her while she was looking for lotions in a store aisle. She moved to a different area, and the man followed.
She saw the man turned toward another unsuspecting woman, exposing and pleasuring himself, according to the report.
Another woman told police she saw the man doing the same thing while she was looking at couch covers in a different part of the store.
He was booked into the Beaufort County Detention Center after 7 p.m. and was released mid-morning on Sunday on a $5,000 personal recognizance bond.
That bond means the person charged does not have to pay anything to leave jail. If he skips his court date, a monetary fine will be leveled.
A conviction of indecent exposure could mean up to three years in prison.
