In the state of North Carolina it is illegal for registered sex offenders to use social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Two Beaufort County women learned that earlier this month when investigators with the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office charged them with sex offender use of a social networking website.

On March 19, Teana Shree Guilford, 24, of Charlie Lane, Chocowinity, and Denise McNair, 53, of Clay Bottom School Road, Chocowinity, were arrested. Guilford turned herself in at the sheriff’s office. This is the second time McNair has been charged for the same offense.

“Just because a (user) exists, that alone is not enough to result in a charge. We’re looking for log-in activity on the site to be able to prove our case,” said Maj. Kenneth Watson, spokesman for the sheriff’s office. Watson said one of the reasons why investigators look for more than the existence of a social media account, is because they have run into situations in which accounts for offenders have been falsely created by others.