A day after he tried to kiss a woman’s feet outside a Grovetown restaurant, a notorious sex offender with a foot fetish was locked up in Aiken County on unrelated charges.
Joey Leaphart, 45, was arrested Friday for violating the S.C. Sex Offender Registry law. He remained in jail Monday on a $2,130 bond.
The arrest came one day after a woman reported that Leaphart asked to kiss her feet in the parking lot of a Grovetown restaurant. The 42-year-old woman said the man claimed he was from Atlanta and came to Grovetown for a funeral but had lost his wallet and needed gas money to return home. The woman and her friend gave him money, and the suspect asked if he could kiss her feet.
“He told her it might bring her good luck, because he had kissed his wife`s feet, and she had won a thousand dollars right after that,” a sheriff’s report says.
The woman felt uncomfortable, closed her car door and drove away with her friend. The woman got home and looked Leaphart up on the Crime Stoppers website, and recognized him as the same man who had kissed women`s feet in the Walmart store some time back, a report says.
Leaphart is a registered sex offender in Aiken County after serving five years in prison for licking an 11-year-old’s toes. He was charged with lewd acts to a minor. He also pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in 2012 after repeatedly asking women for money in a North Augusta shopping center.
Last year, he was charged with assault after deputies say he rubbed a woman’s leg in a checkout line at the Walmart in Aiken. About two years ago, a woman also had a run-in with Leaphart at the Grovetown Walmart.
In last Thursday’s incident, Columbia County investigators are still looking to see if a criminal charge would apply since he never touched the women’s feet, Capt. Morris said.
In April, Columbia County took the pro-active step of posting Leaphart’s photo on their Facebook page with this warning:
“Please be aware of this man! His name is JOEY WILLIAM LEAPHART. He is a registered Sex Offender in South Carolina. He approaches women in businesses and parking lots in the Martinez/Evans area asking for money. Once he makes contact, he asks the women if he can kiss their feet, with the intention of sucking on their toes. If you have any similar contact with this individual, please contact the Sheriff’s Office at 706-541-2800.”
