Aiken County Man Arrested on Child Pornography Charges

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) - Jan. 9, 2020 - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the arrest of Joshua Linwood Armentrout, age 37, of North Augusta, SC, on 14 charges connected to the exploitation of a minor. Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigators with the Attorney General's Office made the arrest. ICAC investigators with the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and US Secret Service, all also part of the state's ICAC Task Force, assisted with this arrest.  

Investigators state Armentrout engaged in criminal sexual conduct with a minor and produced, distributed and possessed multiple files of child pornography.

Armentrout was arrested on January 7, 2020. He is charged with three counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor, first degree (§16-3-655(A)(1)); four counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor, third degree (§16-3-655(C)); two 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; one count of sexual exploitation of a minor, second degree (§16-15-405), a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment; and four 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.