A Beaufort County police officer is facing a felony sex offense accusation after reportedly proposing sex with a minor girl.
Harvey Makenzie Bethea, 35, of the Alljoy neighborhood in Bluffton, was arrested on Wednesday morning for criminal solicitation of a minor, according to Beaufort County prison records. The felony charge, defined as an adult speaking with an underage person to “persuade, entice, or coerce” them into sexual behavior, has a maximum sentence of ten years in jail.
According to an affidavit filed by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, Bethea “employed” the 16-year-old victim at his home while he and another person were at work. However, the nature of the job was redacted. Between March 13 and March 20, 2024, Bethea “repeatedly returned to the residence” throughout the day, asking the girl “what she would do in exchange for a puppy,” according to the affidavit.
When the victim offered to buy the dog, Bethea allegedly requested sex. The man assured the child that “he would do the sexual acts to her if she were not comfortable doing them to him,” according to the affidavit.
These solicitations allegedly occurred for many days before March 21, when the victim quit working for Bethea and reported the incidents to the police. According to the document, SLED acquired his arrest warrant on September 30.
Before his arrest, Bethea worked as an officer for the campus of the South Carolina Beaufort Police Department beginning in October 2021 and resigned on February 26 of this year, according to campus spokesperson Carol Weir. She declined to comment on the circumstances surrounding his resignation.
According to records from the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy, Bethea also worked as a “student” at the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office from October 2017 to April 2018. He did not begin classes during his stay at the agency and was not considered an officer, according to SCCJA spokesperson Florence McCants.
Bethea graduated from the academy’s basic training program in March 2022, earning his Class I law enforcement certification, which is required of all police officers, deputies, and state agents. Unrelated to the solicitation allegation, Bethea resigned from USCB police less than a week after the department conducted an internal review of his actions.
The investigation was begun after a female student approached other members of the university’s police force on January 22 to report her “interaction” with Bethea during a traffic stop, according to SCCJA disciplinary records.
Following a monthlong internal investigation, USCB police said they discovered evidence of Bethea committing 14 law and policy infractions in late 2023 and early 2024, including:
- Failure to report information from traffic stops
- Violating bodycam and in-car camera guidelines
- Disobeying an order about traffic stops issued by Erik Salus, USCB’s chief of police
- Two violations of professionalism norms, including one involving a USCB student.
- Violation of the department’s “limits of authority” section for warnings
Disciplinary forms from the SCCJA also include one instance of Bethea turning on his emergency blue lights and “driving through a standing red light” to make a U-turn on U.S. 278.
At the bottom of the separation documents, Chief Salus signed a section stating that the separation “does not involve misconduct” and does not preclude Bethea from law enforcement certification. His SCCJA report states that his credentials have not expired, but his status as a Class I officer is “inactive” because he is not currently employed as an officer.
Bethea was freed from the Beaufort County jail on a $10,000 personal recognizance bond, which meant he didn’t have to pay bail as long as he showed up for future court appearances.
This item was originally published on October 3, 2024, at 3:41 PM.