(Getty Images) The Augusta Chronicle, Ga. | By Sandy Hodson
A military retiree who had been employed as a Burke County teacher when arrested last summer on child molestation charges was arraigned Friday.
A not-guilty plea was filed in Richmond County Superior Court on behalf of Eddie Byrd, 50. He is accused of aggravated child molestation, enticing a child for indecent purposes, sexual assault of a student and computer pornography.
Byrd, who is free on bond, is accused of having a sexual relationship with an underage teen he met through Snapchat. He was arrested in June.
Byrd is no longer a teacher with the Burke County Board of Education; he resigned in lieu of firing last year, said Amy Nunnally, public information officer for the school district. Before he was hired in Burke County, Byrd taught at the Richmond County Technical Career Magnet School.
Ruby Kathleen West, known as “Katy” by everybody that knew her, went home to be with the Lord the morning of Tuesday, December 15, 2020 as the result of a heart attack. She was born December 29, 1940 and would have turned 80 on December 29 of this year. She was preceded in death by her parents, Roggie West and Maude (Richardson) West; her husband, Charles Lee West, Jr.; her son, Jeffrey West; and twin sons, Larry and Gary West.
Katy was a life-long resident of Williamsburg, KY. She retired from the United States Post Office in 2002 where she worked for over 28 years. She later went back to work for Maiden Drug Store in June of 2005 and retired for a second time in March 2019. She was a member of Highland Park Baptist Church in her younger years and later was a member of Main Street Baptist Church for over 50 years. She dearly loved her Sunday School Class and had a friendship and bond with all the ladies in there.