Former Beaufort County middle school teacher faces 3 additional child sex abuse charges
A former middle school teacher at a state charter school in Beaufort County is facing additional felony sex abuse charges following his initial arrest earlier this year.
Timothy Sheaffer, 33, of Bluffton, was charged Monday with three second-degree counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, jail records show.
Police received a tip about Sheaffer in May from the Attorney General’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The alleged criminal activity took place prior to Sheaffer’s arrest in February, according to Maj. Angela Viens, a spokesperson for the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
This is Sheaffer’s fourth count of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, the first charge occurring in February, when police accused him of uploading child sex abuse imagery online following a months-long investigation by law enforcement. Sheaffer was released on a $20,000 personal recognizance bond.
According to arrest warrants obtained by The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette, police have accused Sheaffer of distributing four sexually explicit videos of minors, all of whom were 12 years old or younger.
Sheaffer worked as a middle school social studies teacher at Bridges Preparatory School, a public charter school in Beaufort, beginning in 2015. Gary McCulloch, the school’s chief executive officer, said Sheaffer had not been employed by the school since at least 2019.
The South Carolina Board of Education suspended Sheaffer’s teaching license in March, arguing that he “may pose a threat to the health, safety and welfare of students.”
Second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor is a felony, defined in South Carolina’s Code of Laws as creating and distributing child sexual abuse material.
Sheaffer’s former defense attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.
Sheaffer was released Monday afternoon from the Beaufort County Detention Center on a $15,000 bond.
This story was originally published November 9, 2022 at 2:12 PM.
