By Delayna Earley
The Island News
William James Youmans of Beaufort, who is facing charges for Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor and Trafficking in Persons, Victim under 18 Years of Age – 1st Offense, posted bond on March 5.
Youmans, who was originally arrested in June 2024, was released on a combined $50,000 surety bond and is required to stay under house arrest with GPS monitoring and can only leave for work, medical and legal. Additionally, he is not to have any contact of any kind with the victim and cannot leave the home from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.
He is not allowed any firearms or drug use.
Youmans was arrested along with Alban Bryan, 63, of St. Helena Island and Guy Frank Talley III, 27, of Okatie, by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) in connection with a human trafficking operation in Beaufort County.
A fourth man, 50-year-old Terrance Lamar Fields of Beaufort was arrested by the Hardeeville City Police for Trafficking in Persons, Victim under 18 Years of Age – 1st offense, as well.
A woman, Sylvia Ilaife Meredith, 20, was charged with Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor in connection with this case, according to the Hardeeville Police Department.
Jaquan Duvall Barnes had escaped from the Jasper County Detention Center and was later arrested in Florida and charged in connection with the sex trafficking ring as well.
Guy Frank Talley III was set to appear before Circuit Court Judge Robert Bonds on Wednesday, March 12, at 9:30 a.m. after his lawyer Dayne C. Phillips filed a motion to modify his bond conditions.
Attempts to reach his lawyer went unanswered.
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
