Jasper Co. charter school teacher charged with child sex crime, police say
A first-year teacher at a Jasper County charter school was arrested and charged with a child sex crime on Thursday, according to the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office.
Dylan Stefl, 23, of Ridgeland, was charged Thursday with third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor, which is defined in South Carolina law as attempting or committing sexual abuse on a child under 16 years old.
Stefl taught history to eighth and ninth graders at Polaris Tech Charter School, a state-approved, tuition-free public school serving Jasper, Colleton, Hampton and Beaufort counties, the school’s Facebook account says. Stefl is currently on paid administrative leave, school spokesperson John Williams wrote in an email to The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
The sheriff’s office said it was not releasing additional information on the case due to its “sensitive nature” and “to protect the privacy of the victim(s) involved.”
It was unclear whether the victim or victims in the case attended Polaris Tech, which serves students from kindergarten through 12th grade. Stefl’s classes will be taught by a long-term substitute for “as long as needed,” according to Williams.
Dylan Stefl still in custody
Stefl graduated last year from Charleston Southern University, where he took education classes, according to his public Facebook profile.
“I’m one step closer to being a college graduate and being able to teach and mold the hearts and brains of my future students,” he wrote on his profile in 2024.
Stefl remained in custody at the Jasper County Detention Center as of Monday morning, according to interim jail director Shane Roberts. His bond was denied by a magistrate judge, so it will be decided by a judge in circuit court, Roberts said. Circuit court reconvenes in Jasper County the week of Feb. 23.
Stefl’s arrest came two days after an employee at a Port Royal preschool was arrested for alleged possession of child pornography.
Staff at Sea Island Sprouts, which serves children aged 1 through 4, wrote to parents that based on police’s statements, “there is no indication that any children at (the preschool) were involved.”
