South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has announced the arrest of James Leonard Carter, Jr. (age 20), of Elgin, on six 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 arrest.

Investigators state Carter engaged in criminal sexual conduct with a minor and manufactured files of child sexual abuse material.*

Carter was arrested on February 29, 2024. He is charged with one count of criminal sexual conduct with a minor (§16-3-655(B)(1)); and five counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, first degree (§16-15-395), a felony offense punishable by up to 20 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.