THIS OPINION HAS NO PRECEDENTIAL VALUE.  IT SHOULD NOT BE CITED OR RELIED ON AS 
PRECEDENT IN ANY PROCEEDING EXCEPT AS PROVIDED BY RULE 239(D)(2), SCACR.

THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA
In The Court of Appeals

The State, Respondent,

v.

John Dewayne Stewart, Appellant.

Appeal from Spartanburg County
Roger L. Couch, Master- In- Equity

Unpublished Opinion No. 2006-UP-112
Submitted February 1, 2006 – Filed February 21, 2006  

APPEAL DISMISSED

Assistant Appellate Defender Tara S. Taggart, of Columbia, for Appellant.

Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley W. Elliott, all of Columbia; and Solicitor Harold W. Gowdy, III, of Spartanburg, for Respondent.

PER CURIAM:  John Dewayne Stewart appeals his conviction for criminal sexual conduct with a minor in the first degree.  He maintains the trial court erred in denying his motion for a directed verdict because there was an absence of competent evidence tending to prove Stewart’s guilt.  After a thorough review of the record and counsel’s brief, pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), and State v. Williams, 305 S.C. 116, 406 S.E.2d 357 (1991), we dismiss[1] Stewart’s appeal and grant counsel’s motion to be relieved.

APPEAL DISMISSED.

BEATTY, SHORT, and WILLIAMS, JJ., concur.

[1] We decide this case without oral argument pursuant to Rule 215, SCACR.