A Bluffton man was arrested Friday following a months-long investigation into child sexual abuse imagery being uploaded to the internet.
Timothy Sheaffer, 32, is charged with second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor.
Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office investigators obtained a warrant from a Beaufort County magistrate judge to arrest Sheaffer and search his Heritage at New Riverside home for the electronic devices he allegedly used to upload child sexual abuse images.
Sheaffer was “arrested without incident” and is being held at the Beaufort County Detention Center, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office alert. He has not received a bond hearing yet.
If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual assault, help can be reached at the National Sexual Assault Hotline at (800) 656-4673. Or visit the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network site.
When we publish mugshots
The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette publishes police booking photos, or mugshots, in the following instances:
In situations where a public figure or someone in a position of public trust is arrested
In cases where there is an immediate and widespread threat to public safety
In cases where the arrested person is accused of a crime reporters have evidence to believe involved numerous, unknown victims
Reporters will avoid using mugshots as lead images for online articles in order to limit their circulation on social media, except in cases where the public is served by the immediate identification of the accused. Reporters and editors may use discretion in situations that don’t meet the criteria outlined in this policy but still present a compelling reason to publish a mugshot.
This story was originally published February 18, 2022 at 1:27 PM.
Rachel Jones covers education for the Island Packet and the Beaufort Gazette. She attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and has worked for the Daily Tar Heel and Charlotte Observer. She has won awards from the South Carolina Press Association, Associated College Press and North Carolina College Media Association for feature writing and education reporting.
