Myrtle Beach man arrested 2nd time for sexually assaulting a female. The first was a minor
A Myrtle Beach man has been arrested for a second time on criminal sexual conduct charges.
Brandon Tyler O’Hara, 29, also was arrested in 2019 for allegedly raping a minor victim he met on Snapchat, according to a police report. He received two and a half years probation for a related charge.
Horry County Police arrested the man on Tuesday and charged him with first-degree criminal sexual conduct. O’Hara is currently being held at the J. Reuben Long Detention Center on a $30,000 bail.
According to the arrest report, O’Hara allegedly restrained the victim and forcibly penetrated her after she had told O’Hara to stop. She also told O’Hara she did not want to have sex with him after he had made sexual advances.
The incident happened between May and April 2021 and the victim reported the crime on Dec. 15, 2023, according to the incident report.
O’Hara was first arrested in September 2019 and charged with second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor aged 11 to 14 and first-degree aggravated assault.
According to previous reporting by The Sun News, he had met the minor on Snapchat. He picked her up from the McLeod Hospital and the minor said he assaulted her near his residence.
In February 2020, O’Hara pleaded guilty to the first-degree aggravated assault and the 15th Judicial Circuit dismissed the criminal sexual conduct with a minor charge.
He was sentenced to two and a half years of probation under the Youthful Offender Act. The Youthful Offender Act applies to offenders between the ages of 17 and 25. It gives lower prison sentences, houses defendants in a different facility and offers preventative classes.
Tonya Root, with the 15th Judicial Circuit, said Wednesday that the dismissal of a charge typically happens when someone comes in with multiple charges. The judge will prosecute the defendant on one charge but take into consideration the other charges for sentencing.
O’Hara could still be prosecuted and sentenced for the second degree criminal sexual misconduct with a minor.
O’Hara is not on the South Carolina sex offender registry. In order to be on the sex offender registry, a person must be convicted of criminal sexual misconduct, Root said. A judge will order joining the registry as part of sentencing, she said.
