NOV 16, 2018

Saluda County Man Arrested on Child Pornography Charges

(COLUMBIA, S.C.)  - Nov. 16, 2018 - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the arrest of Brandon Lee Padgett (age 31) of  Saluda, SC, on five charges connected to the sexual exploitation of a minor.  Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigators with the Attorney General's Office made the arrest.  Investigators with the Lexington County Sheriff's Department and United States Secret Service, both also members of the state's ICAC Task Force, assisted with this arrest.

Investigators received a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) which led them to Padgett. Investigators state Padgett possessed multiple files of child pornography.

Padgett was arrested on November 14, 2018.  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.

The 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.

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