By Taylor Beltz
Aiken Standard, S.C.
McCORMICK, S.C. —An inmate at McCormick Correctional Institution is facing charges after being accused that he threatened and sexually assaulted a correctional officer.
Timothy Darren Sherard Jr., 23, was charged Sept. 22 with taking a hostage, first-degree criminal sexual conduct and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, the State Law Enforcement Division announced Sept. 25.
On Sept. 20, Sherard used a knife or shank to hold a South Carolina Department of Corrections employee in a bathroom of the prison’s education building and sexually battered the correctional officer, according to arrest warrants.
The inmate has been moved to a different institution, according to a release from SCDC. The employee was treated at an area hospital, the release said.
Sherard is serving a 10-year sentence for false imprisonment and first-degree assault and battery convictions in Greenwood County and had a projected parole eligibility date of Dec. 6, according to online prison records. He is also listed on the South Carolina Sex Offender Registry after being convicted of criminal sexual conduct at age 17.
The McCormick Correctional Institution is a maximum-security state prison in McCormick with a capacity of 1,128 adult men.
The 11th Circuit Solicitor’s Office will prosecute the case.
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