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<p><strong>From staff reports&nbsp;</strong></p>
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<p>A Burton man who left a trail of women’s and children’s clothing and footprints in his wake after burglarizing a neighbor’s home has been sent to prison.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>Roy Dean White, 50, pleaded guilty as indicted Aug. 18 to first-degree burglary in Beaufort County General Sessions Court. White has a history of violent offenses and was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years in prison.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>“This was no trivial offense,” said Assistant Solicitor Hunter Swanson, who prosecuted the case. “Given the defendant’s criminal history, which includes violence against children, we believe Mr. White to be a career criminal and a danger to the entire community.”&nbsp;</p>
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<p>A mother and her children were pulling into their driveway upon returning home at about 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 8, 2018. Through a window, the woman’s daughter spotted a bald man in a teal, short-sleeve shirt inside their house. The mother drove away and called 9-1-1.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>Beaufort County Sheriff’s deputies arrived minutes later to find an unsecured back door. No one was inside the residence. However, outside, they found a trail of women’s and children’s underwear taken from the home, along with footprints leading to the backyard of White’s nearby house.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>There, officers found White, who is bald. He wore a teal shirt and was holding a flashlight. White was questioned but initially refused to submit a DNA sample for testing.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>White was later arrested after analysts determined a sample taken from a nightstand in the victims’ home contained DNA from several contributors, one of which could not have come from a family member. A follow-up test after White’s arrest indicated his DNA was part of the mixture.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>Circuit Court Judge Carmen T. Mullen handed down the sentence.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>White’s criminal history includes a conviction for homicide by child abuse, stemming from the 1998 death of Kimberly Michelle Slattery, his girlfriend’s 7-year-old daughter. White served 12 years of a 25-year sentence before his release in December 2011.&nbsp;</p>
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