A man who worked as an officer at multiple law enforcement agencies in Spartanburg County over a 22-year period is accused of child sex abuse, court records show.

Kip Dwayne Teal, 50, of 208 Elliott Road, Lyman, has been charged with three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor younger than 11 years old, and three counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor, according to Robert Kittle, a spokesman with the state Attorney General's Office, which is prosecuting the case.

According to Grand Jury indictments issued Friday, the reported sexual abuse happened between Aug. 1, 2013, and July 31, 2016.

Teal also was charged with violation of an order of protection on Feb. 6, court records show.

From May 1996 to May 2018, Teal served with five law enforcement agencies in Spartanburg County, according to records on file with the state Criminal Justice Academy. Most recently, Teal worked at the Spartanburg County Coroner’s Office, where he served as a deputy coroner for about three years. He resigned from that agency in May.

Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger said Teal resigned following allegations regarding misuse of public equipment and that his departure was not related to the child sex abuse charges. Clevenger said he handled the internal inquiry into the misuse of public equipment and that no charges were filed.

"Kip was a good investigator, but even before this investigation began, Mr. Teal experienced a problem — it was a personnel matter that was unrelated to the (criminal sexual conduct) investigation," Clevenger said.

Teal started as a reserve officer at the Lyman Police Department in 1996 and left as a Class 1 officer in 2002. From Lyman, he went to the Duncan Police Department, where he worked for five years. He also worked at the Wellford Police Department for about six months, and he served a seven-year stint at the Chesnee Police Department before going to the Coroner's Office in 2015.

Duncan Police Chief C.E. Long said he was Teal's captain at the department from 2005-07. Long said he was not aware of any misconduct during Teal's time at the department, and he called Teal a good worker.

"He was a good officer," Long said. "As far as his personal life, there was nothing criminal or anything like that."

Wellford Police Chief David Green declined to comment. Chesnee Police Chief Adrian Quinones said Teal was his superior officer for several years when he worked for the department, but declined to comment further. Lyman Police Chief Jay Hayes could not be immediately reached for comment.

While working as an officer in Lyman in 2001, Teal received the Medal of Valor from the South Carolina Police Chiefs Association after helping to pull a disabled man from the path of an oncoming train.

Teal was booked March 20 at the Spartanburg County Detention Center. He is scheduled to appear in court Friday for an arraignment and bond hearing, Kittle said.

The State Law Enforcement Division is handling the investigation.

First-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor is defined under state law as the sexual assault of a person younger than 11. It is a felony and, upon conviction, has a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in prison with no chance of a suspended sentence or probation.

Third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor is defined as a person older than 14 committing or attempting to commit a "lewd or lascivious act" on a person younger than 16. If found guilty, a person is fined at the discretion of the court and imprisoned for up to 15 years.