By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
ECSO catches up to meth suspect
1217 Sharon Jenkins
Sharon Jenkins

A Guyton woman who has been on the Effingham County Sheriff’s Office radar for “three or four years” was arrested Thursday on charges of making and distributing methamphetamine.


Sharon Jenkins was arrested after investigators found six “one-pot” methamphetamine labs, pseudoephedrine and other ingredients to manufacture meth in her Guyton home, according to ECSO.


“She’s been popping up on our radar between three and four years,” said ECSO spokesman Detective David Ehsanipoor. “Her name has popped up in meth dealers’ cell phones in other investigations.”


Jenkins was caught after local stores’ logs showed her buying a large amount of cold medicine. The decongestant pseudoephedrine is a key ingredient in methamphetamine.


The ECSO’s routine checks of local pseudoephedrine logs “leads us to a lot of our meth labs,” according to Ehsanipoor.


“I guess sometimes they think they can get around it,” he said of offenders. “For example, they might purchase it at Walgreen’s today, CVS tomorrow and Kroger the next day, but we work with all the pharmacies and have a big database.”


Jenkins works in Rincon Elementary School’s lunchroom. However, Ehsanipoor downplayed the significance of arresting someone who is around children every day.


“It doesn’t matter who you are or what kind of job you do,” he said. “If you’re involved in drug activity, especially something as serious as meth, we’re going to handle it the same.”


Dismissing a school system employee requires termination/resignation paperwork to be submitted to the Effingham County Board of Education, and “no official action (regarding Jenkins) has taken place at this time,” said Superintendent Randy Shearouse. All school district employees undergo a criminal background check prior to being hired, he added.


“The safety of our children is paramount,” Shearouse said. “We want to make sure our children are protected.”


Disciplinary action against school system employees “depends on the circumstances,” according to Shearouse. Jenkins is essentially now on indefinite leave from RES.


“A person charged like this would not be allowed to keep working,” Shearouse said. “They wouldn’t be at school until things can be sorted out.”


Jenkins faces a variety of meth-related charges, including possession and distribution of the drug, and a charge of possession of a firearm for the commission of a crime.