Rock Hill Man Arrested on Five Child Sexual Abuse Material* Charges

(COLUMBIA, S.C.)  South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the arrest of Lawrence Tafoya, 67, of Rock Hill, S.C., on five charges connected to the sexual exploitation of minors. Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigators with the York County Sheriff's Office made the arrest. 

Investigators state Tafoya possessed files of child sexual abuse material.

Tafoya was arrested on April 11, 2024. He is charged with five 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.

Tafoya was convicted on related charges in 2022.

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.