(COLUMBIA, S.C.) – South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the arrest of Mark Edward Matthews, 46, of Columbia, S.C., on five charges connected to the sexual exploitation of minors. Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigators with the Attorney General’s Office made the arrest. Investigators with U.S. Secret Service and the Richland County Sheriff’s Office, both also members of the state’s ICAC Task Force, assisted with the investigation.
Investigators received a CyberTipline report that led them to Matthews. Investigators state Matthews distributed and possessed files of child sexual abuse material.
Matthews was arrested on November 17, 2021. He is charged with one count of sexual exploitation of a minor, second degree (§16-15-405), a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment; and four counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, third degree (§16-15-410), a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment on each count.
This case will be prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office.
Attorney General Wilson stressed all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in a court of law.
* Child sexual abuse material, or CSAM, is a more accurate reflection of the material involved in these heinous and abusive crimes. “Pornography” can imply the child was a consenting participant. Globally, the term child pornography is being replaced by CSAM for this reason.