South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the arrest of Charles Kevin Bourne, 58, of Lexington, on three charges connected to the sexual exploitation of a minor. Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigators with the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department made the arrest. Investigators with the Attorney General’s Office and U.S. Marshals Service, both also members of the state’s ICAC Task Force, assisted with the investigation.

Investigators received a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) which led them to Bourne. Investigators state Bourne distributed files of child sexual abuse material and engaged in sexual activity with animals.

Bourne was arrested last Wednesday. He is charged with two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, second degree, a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment on each count; and one count of buggery, a felony offense punishable by five years imprisonment.

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.