<b>Psychologist arrested for sexual battery</b>

An employee of Battery Creek High School has been arrested on one count of Sexual Battery of a Student following an investigation into inappropriate conduct reported by a student’s parent.

The mother of a 16-year-old Battery Creek High School student contacted Sheriff’s deputies Thursday, Dec. 19, after discovering a series of communications on her phone between her son and an individual named “Megan Snipes.” Recognizing the name as that of the school’s psychologist, whom her son had been regularly seeing; and in light of the sexual tone of the conversations, she became concerned and requested to file a report at the Sheriff’s Office headquarters in Beaufort.

Investigators immediately became involved, making contact with both the student and the suspect, 29-year-old Megan Michelle Snipes. It was confirmed during the course of the investigation that on October 18, Snipes did engage in a sexual act with the victim in the area of Bob Jones Field on Jones Avenue in Beaufort. At the time the incident occurred, Snipes was affiliated with a public secondary school in an official capacity as a psychologist for the Beaufort County School District. The incident was reportedly consensual with no aggravated coercion or force.

Snipes was transported to the Beaufort County Detention Center and was released from jail on a personal recognizance bond on Saturday,
Dec. 21.

Anyone with more information is asked to contact either Investigator Sgt. C. Wilson at 843-255-3409 or Crimestoppers.

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<b>County government holiday closings</b>

This year, all Beaufort County Government Buildings will be closed Wednesday January 1, 2014. These closings also include County Public Library Branches.

Here is the holiday schedule for all Beaufort County Convenience Centers:

• Thursday, Dec. 26, 2013: All centers reopen, resume normal schedule.

• Tuesday, December 31, 2013, New Year’s Eve: All centers close at 1 p.m.

• Wednesday, January 1, 2014, New Year’s Day: All Centers Closed.

• Thursday, January 2, 2014: All centers reopen and resume normal schedule.

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<b>Sheriff’s Office investigating shooting</b>

The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a shooting incident that occurred Saturday, Dec. 14 on the streets of a Beaufort neighborhood.

At approximately 3:15 p.m. Saturday, Sheriff’s deputies responded to Beaufort Memorial Hospital in reference to the arrival of a gunshot victim. There, deputies made contact with an 18-year-old male who was being treated for a gunshot wound to the leg.

The victim advised that he was walking to Polk Village with a female friend at approximately 2:40 p.m. As they approached the area of Centerview Drive and Second Street, they observed several unknown black males standing in the street. The victim advised that they suddenly heard gunshots in close proximity, causing him and his friend to flee in separate directions.

As the victim ran towards Westview Avenue, he realized that he had been shot in the leg. Unable to find the female he’d been with, the victim advised that he contacted another friend who came and transported him to the hospital.

The victim was unable to provide any further description of the subjects he saw in the area just prior to the shooting, and no witnesses to the incident were located. The victim sustained non-life threatening injuries for which he was treated and released.

The Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with information to contact either Investigator Sgt. J. Gobel at 843-255-3421 or Crimestoppers.
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