Oconee County Sheriff’s Office Arrests Westminster Man on Multiple Criminal Sexual Conduct with a Minor Charges

From the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office:

(Walhalla, SC) ————————————-A Westminster man remains in jail today after his arrest Monday on 25 counts of Criminal Sexual Conduct with a Minor – First Degree.

31-year-old Jeremy Hugh Sluder, of Morton Drive, was booked into the Oconee County
Detention Center at around 9:58am yesterday. Sluder was denied bond during a bond hearing and will appear before a Circuit Court Judge, at a later date, regarding his bond.

The Sheriff’s Office began an investigation on February 2nd of this year after a Deputy from the Uniform Patrol Bureau spoke with a family member and the victim, a child, in reference to allegations of a sexual assault against the victim by Jeremy Sluder. The Criminal Investigations Bureau and the Department of Social Services was also notified.

As part of the ongoing investigation, Deputies and DSS employees responded to a residence on Morton Drive, near Westminster, that is occupied by Jeremy Sluder and his wife, 30-year-old Katherine Renee Sluder. Deputies observed unsanitary living conditions inside of the residence where three children were living.

The sexual assault investigation was turned over to a Violent Crimes Investigator. Based upon evidence obtained during the investigation, it was determined that Jeremy Sluder committed a sexual battery against the child in the years of 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. Also, both Jeremy and Katherine Sluder were each charged with three counts of Unlawfully Placing a Child at Risk or Harm. According to the arrest warrants, the children were forced to live in a home full of animal feces and urine and mold. The Unlawful Neglect arrest warrants against both Sluder’s were obtained by a Deputy from the Uniform Patrol Bureau.

All the children that were victims in the investigations were placed in a safe environment.
Katherine Sluder was released from the Oconee County Detention Center, on February 24th, after receiving a combined $15,000 personal recognizance bond.