Bluffton man, former swim instructor, arrested on voyeurism charge

A former Beaufort County and Hilton Head Island High School swimming coach was arrested Thursday, accused of video-taping a woman in his bathroom, according to a Bluffton Police Department news release.

Jeremy William Kemeny, 40, was charged with two counts of lewd acts after a woman, 18, according to police, who was living with him reported finding a video that showed her in the bathroom, the release said. After officers reviewed the footage and obtained search and arrest warrants for Kemeny's home, they learned he was planning to flee, according to the release. He told neighbors he was moving, the release said.

Police found him driving on Buckwalter Parkway, where he was arrested without incident, the release said.

Kemeny has faced similar charges before. In November 2002, he was working as a Beaufort County Parks and Leisure Services employee in charge of swim programs when he was arrested and charged with exposing himself to two female students from Bluffton Elementary School in an office area of the pool, according to the Bluffton Police Department.

His contract as the Hilton Head Island High School swimming coach had recently expired, school officials told The Island Packet at the time.

In 2003, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years in jail, suspended to two and a half years probation, according to court records.

Kemeny also registered as a sex offender, according to a department news release. However, a Packet search of the U.S. Department of Justice's registry Thursday did not list him as an offender.

In 2009, Kemeny was arrested again when Bluffton police learned he had been corresponding with two 13-year-old girls through a MySpace account, according to a department news release. Impersonating a 16-year-old boy, Kemeny convinced the girls to send him sexually suggestive photographs, the release said.

He was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Court records on that charge were not available Thursday evening. Bluffton Police Maj. Joseph Manning said he did not know the disposition of those charges.

"We are aware of his past cases and (are) looking into them," Manning said in an email late Thursday.

Kemeny remained in the Beaufort County Detention Center pending a bond hearing, according to the jail log.

Kemeny has declined to speak with investigators, according to the news release.

Police are searching his Rocking Horse Lane home for further evidence and ask that anyone who has had contact with Kemeny or believes they may be a victim to contact Investigator Michael Danyov at 843-706-4516 or Sgt. Kelly Heany at 843-706-4589.

Follow reporter Rebecca Lurye on Twitter at twitter.com/IPBG_Rebecca.

This story was originally published July 31, 2014 at 8:57 PM with the headline "Bluffton man, former swim instructor, arrested on voyeurism charge."