A Beaufort County man faces charges of sex offenses involving a minor, after allegedly engaging in sexual acts with a child younger than 16.

Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office deputies charged Bradford Clark Hedgepeth, 35, of Slatestone Road in Washington, with two felony counts of statutory sex offense with a child 15 and younger and two felony counts of indecent liberties with a child. Hedgepeth was charged July 12 and had his first appearance in District Court on July 18.

According to a search warrant application establishing law enforcement’s facts of the case, the alleged incidents occurred on April 21, while Hedgepeth and the victim were riding ATVs together. Following the incident, the same document says Hedgepeth allegedly sent pictures of his genitals to the juvenile victim.

The warrant for Hedgepeth’s arrest alleges that he “unlawfully, willfully and feloniously engage in sexual acts with a minor female, a person who at the time was 15 years of age or younger.”

The warrant states the alleged victim was older than 12 years old at the time of the incidents.

In order to protect victims, the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office does not issue press releases or publicly discuss sex crimes involving minors.

“We don’t do press releases on incidents where victims are juveniles and it’s sex offense victims,” said BCSO 1^st Sgt. Brad Shackelford. “… We don’t do press releases for the sake of the families.”

Hedgepeth has been released from jail on a $35,000 secured bond. He is next scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 29.