Charleston Man Arrested on Child Pornography Charges

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) - Oct. 16, 2019 - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the arrest of William Lloyd Hepburn (age 18) of  Charleston, SC, on 11 charges connected to the exploitation of a minor. Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigators with the Charleston Police Department and Charleston County Sheriff’s Office made the arrest. Investigators with the Attorney General's Office, also a member 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 Hepburn. Investigators state Hepburn created and distributed multiple files of child pornography, as well as disseminated nude images to a minor.

Hepburn was arrested on October 11, 2019. He is charged with one count of sexual exploitation of a minor, first degree (§16-15-395), a felony offense punishable by up to 20 years imprisonment; five counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, second degree (§16-15-405), a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment on each count; and five counts of disseminating obscene material to a person under age eighteen (§16-15-345), a felony offense punishable by up to ten 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.