South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the arrest of Michael Savona (age 60), of Lexington, and Adam Asad Kelton (age 22), of Lexington, on three total charges connected to the sexual exploitation of minors. Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigators with the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department made the arrests in these unrelated cases. Investigators with the Attorney General’s Office, also a member of the state’s ICAC Task Force, assisted with these investigations.

Investigators received a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) which led them to Savona. Investigators state Savona distributed files of child sexual abuse material and Kelton distributed child sexual abuse material and disseminated obscene material.

Savona was arrested on March 28, 2023. He is charged with one count of sexual exploitation of a minor, second degree, a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment.

Kelton was arrested on March 29, 2023. He is charged with one count of sexual exploitation of a minor, second degree, a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment; and one count of dissemination, procuring, or promoting obscenity.

Both of these cases 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.