Last week, Timothy Michael Jones, Jr., age 33, pled guilty to Criminal Sexual Conduct with a Minor in the Second Degree and Burglary in the Third Degree. The two cases were unrelated and Chief Administrative Judge Debra R. McCaslin sentenced Jones to fifteen (15) years in the South Carolina Department of Corrections for the sexual assault, and concurrently to five (5) years for the burglary charge. Under South Carolina law, the sexual assault conviction is classified as a violent, most serious, and “no parole” offense with a maximum penalty of twenty years in prison.

In April of 2021, Jones was on the social media platform, Snapchat, when he connected with a fourteen-year-old girl who was spending the night with one of her friends. Jones picked the two girls up and took them to the Red Bank area of Lexington County. Jones gave the girls a cocktail of three illegal drugs and sexually assaulted one of the girls before taking them home. The minor victim disclosed what occurred to her family and her parents notified law enforcement. The Lexington County Sheriff’s Department conducted the investigation of this case and detectives were able to identify Jones. 

Regarding the unrelated burglary conviction, on September 16, 2020, Jones entered a home without the homeowner’s permission and stole approximately two thousand dollars’ worth of her possessions.  After being identified on the victim’s home surveillance system, Jones did admit to the crimes. This case was investigated by the Town of Lexington Police Department.

Due to a conviction for Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor, Jones was already a registered sex offender. During the sentencing hearing, Judge McCaslin expressed concern that a registered sex offender was continuing to troll for young teenagers online. He also has a prior criminal record for drugs, domestic violence, and sex offender registry violations. Jones has been transported to the South Carolina Department of Corrections to serve his active prison sentence.

These cases were prosecuted by Eleventh Circuit Assistant Solicitor Ashley Wellman, who stated, “this case highlights the dangers of social media platforms, such as Snapchat, that provide child predators with ample hunting grounds to prey on young teenagers. We must be vigilant in talking to our children about these very real threats.”