By Delayna Earley
The Island News
A former Port Royal police officer has been arrested and charged with third-degree criminal sexual misconduct with a minor according to a release from the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED).
Edgar Kangaroo Jansons, a 75-year-old Beaufort resident, was arrested following an investigation into the incident led by SLED.
As of press time on Tuesday, April 29, a preliminary hearing was scheduled for him on Friday, May 9 at 9:30 a.m. according to the Public Index.
The arrest warrant states that in December 2024 a 10-year-old child was in Jansons’ residence, and he kissed the child on the mouth.
The minor reported the incident right away and stated during an interview as part of the investigation that Jansons’ touched the back of their arms and they felt his tongue.
Jansons was booked into the Beaufort County Detention Center on April 19 and was released on April 21 on a $25,000 personal recognizance bond.
A person is guilty of sexual conduct with a minor in the third degree if the alleged defendant is over 14 years old and “willfully and lewdly” commits or attempts to commit a sexual act upon a child under 16 years old “with the intent of arousing, appealing to, or gratifying the lust, passions or sexual desires” of the defendant or the child and it is a felony that is punishable by up to 15 years and/or a fine to be issued by a judge following a guilty verdict.
Jansons voluntarily resigned from the Port Royal Police Department in November 2024, and, according to records, he was the facing pending criminal charges and was the subject of a criminal investigation when he resigned.
He worked for the Port Royal department from February 2013 to his resignation in November 2024.
He also previously worked with the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office from July 2001 until February 2013, and before that he worked with the Andrews Police Department in Georgetown County from 1986 to 2001.
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.
