Report: Man out on bond for kidnapping sisters, arrested again for kidnapping 12-year-old

BEAUFORT COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) - Investigators say a Lowcountry man who was out on bond for kidnapping two sisters and sexually assaulting one of them was arrested again for kidnapping a 12-year-old girl in Arizona.

The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office and FBI agents arrested 23-year-old Timothy Schultheis on Wednesday morning. Schultheis was originally arrested in 2020 in connection with the kidnapping of 10 and 12 year old sisters from a home in Aiken County, and was charged with sexually assaulting one of them.

His latest arrest stems from an investigation by the sheriff’s office on Tuesday after the FBI contacted them regarding a fugitive wanted for kidnapping.

FBI officials said Schultheis was suspected of kidnapping a 12-year-old girl from Graham County, Arizona and bringing her to his Kelly Court apartment in Bluffton.

“Schultheis was listed as a wanted person in the National Crime Information Center by Arizona authorities for kidnapping and custodial interference,” the sheriff’s office said.

Sheriff’s office investigators, SWAT members and FBI agents served a search warrant at Schultheis’s apartment on Wednesday morning where he was located and arrested. The 12-year-old girl was found unharmed in the apartment.

Schultheis was locked up at the Beaufort County Detention Center and will be held awaiting extradition to Arizona.

“The 12-year-old girl was taken to the Savannah Memorial Hospital for an evaluation,” the sheriff’s office said. “She has since been released and soon will be reunited with family.”

Schulthies out on bond for 2020 offenses

On Sept. 18, 2020, Aiken County authorities contacted the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office regarding two sisters, 10 and 12 years old, who had been kidnapped from their Aiken County residence.

Sheriff’s office deputies identified the subject as Schultheis, who at the time resided at the Spa apartments on Hilton Head Island. Deputies then went to Schultheis’s apartment and made contact with him.

A report states that at Schultheis apartment, deputies found the 12-year-old girl and learned that Schultheis had previously driven her 10-year-old sister back to Aiken County, where he dropped her off at a church close to her home.

“The 12-year-old girl was evaluated at the Hilton Head Hospital, where it was disclosed that she had been sexually assaulted by Schultheis,” the sheriff’s office said. “Sheriff’s Office investigators arrested Schultheis and charged him with Criminal Sexual Conduct with a Minor 2nd Degree.”

He was taken to the Beaufort County Detention and incarcerated. Schultheis posted bond and was released that same day.

Investigators say they had also obtained a warrant to search Schultheis’s apartment.

In Schultheis’s apartment, investigators reported locating and seizing a mobile telephone and other electronic devices, which were subjected to forensic analyses.

“As a result of those analyses, on December 22, 2020, Schultheis was arrested and charged with three counts of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor 3rd Degree and one count of Unlawful to Disseminate Obscene Material to a Person under 18 years of age,” the sheriff’s office said.

Again, Schultheis posted bond and was released from the Beaufort County Detention Center the following day, BCSO officials said.

“As a condition of his bond, Schultheis was ordered to wear an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet,” the sheriff’s office said. “Schultheis electronic monitor was on his ankle at the time of this morning’s arrest.”

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