The accused abductor of Betty Taylor, 23-year-old Timothy Schultheis was in custody, after being arrested for a separate abduction. An ankle bracelet was also watching him. So we looked at how Schultheis was able to cross state lines with an ankle monitor turned on and who is in charge of monitoring it. Steve Hirsch, an expert in ankle tracking systems, uses the same technology that can track you on your phone: GPS. He says there are a number of factors that could have caused the system to fail in this case, including human error. “Any piece of electronic equipment, there are potential problems. “There is always a possibility of error,” he told ABC15. Hirsch says that while these monitors are reliable, they are also exposed to environmental issues. “You know they’re in the water. “They are constantly hit, so there is a possibility that something will happen to the electronic media inside that could cause a problem or error,” he added. He says ankle screens are designed to use GPS signals. “Once this position is determined, it is generally broadcast in real time to one of the mobile carriers back to whatever monitoring station is available. If the device does not have specified parameters or has been violated: “There would generally be some kind of alert at the monitoring station,” Hirsch said. He says paying attention to alerts at the monitoring station is also important, but if not monitored, “Then the customer may be in a location where they are not monitored and where it is unknown.” 12-year-old Betty Taylor disappeared in Arizona on March 20. The FBI has confirmed that he was found thousands of miles away in South Carolina with Schultheis, who was arrested for kidnapping and interfering with his detention. ABC15 investigated his criminal record and Schultheis has a history of arrests involving sexual harassment of minors and was confined to an ankle screen. Schultheis was arrested in 2020 and charged with kidnapping two brothers, aged 10 and 12. Officials claim that Schultheis sexually assaulted his older brother in that case. Betty Taylor was found safe and uninjured and her dad tells us she is in South Carolina and will be home with Betty soon. ABC15 contacted the Beaufort County Sheriff’s office asking who was responsible for the ball falling to locate Schultheis, and they referred us to the Beaufort County Courthouse office. We have requested public records with them and look forward to hearing from you again.
