LANCASTER, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) – Authorities say a part-time substitute teacher at Andrew Jackson High School has been charged with Criminal Sexual Conduct with a Minor in the Third Degree and Sexual Exploitation of a Minor in the Second Degree.
The Lancaster Sheriff’s Department charging 24 y/o Austin Shane Truesdale of Heath Springs for sexual assault on a male minor. Deputies say the Assault taking place off campus in Truesdale home.
Please see below full Sheriff’s Department Press Release.
Austin Shane Truesdale, 24, of Heath Springs was arrested by investigators of the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office Thursday, February 24, 2022, and charged with Criminal Sexual Conduct with a Minor in the Third Degree and Sexual Exploitation of a Minor in the Second Degree. Tuesday, February 22, the school resource officer at Andrew Jackson High School received information from a school administrator that Truesdale, a part-time substitute teacher at the school, had assaulted a male who was a minor by touching him in a sexual manner. The incident was reported to have occurred in early January 2022 at Truesdale’s home. The incident was not related to any school activity.
The report was assigned to the Criminal Investigations Division of the sheriff’s office. Investigators followed up on the report by talking with witnesses and confirmed the incident occurred. They also spoke with Truesdale earlier in the week. Thursday afternoon Truesdale voluntarily came to the sheriff’s office for an in-depth interview. Investigators had also obtained Truesdale’s cell phone and did a preliminary search of its contents. They found a photograph of another minor male in a state of sexually explicit nudity. The photo was also unrelated to school property or school activities.
After the interview Truesdale was arrested on warrants charging him with the above two offenses and was transported to the Lancaster County Detention Center. He has not yet appeared before a magistrate for a bond hearing and remains in the detention center.
