Crime Stoppers received a tip on Feb. 2 that a sex offender registered in Beaufort County had a Facebook page. A press release from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office stated that the tip led to Investigator Wesley Waters obtaining a warrant for Denise McNair, 52, a resident of Clay Bottom School Road, Blounts Creek. McNair, who had been convicted of indecent liberties with a minor, turned herself in at the Beaufort County Detention Center on March 7. She was charged with one count of sex offender use of a social website.

“When (sex offenders) register, we get them to sign paperwork that details all the prohibitions and requirements,” said Maj. Kenneth Watson of the sheriff’s office.

According to the North Carolina Sex Offender and Public Protection law, “it is unlawful for a sex offender who is registered under North Carolina’s Sex Offender and Public Protection Programs to access a commercial social networking Web site where the sex offender knows that the site permits minor children to become members or to create or maintain personal Web pages on the commercial social networking Web site.”

McNair was released on a $15,000 unsecured bond set by Magistrate Eric Holmes.