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FLORENCE, SC (AP) --

A Bennettsville police officer has been charged with molesting two teenage boys, nine months after a jury indicted him on similar charges with four other boys.

Authorities say Jerry Starnes is charged with committing a lewd act on two boys over 14 years old. Indictments issued this month accuse him of molesting one victim sometime between 1969 and 1971, and another between 1973 and 1974.

A Marlboro County grand jury indicted Starnes last April of committing lewd acts on four boys under 14 years old between 1969 and 1981.

The Morning News of Florence reports a trial is set to begin Feb. 9.

Bennettsville Police Chief Larry McNeil says Starnes is on unpaid administrative leave.

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