Laurens County Man Arrested on Child Sexual Abuse Material* Charges

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) - July 1, 2020 - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the arrest of Roberto J. Martin Rodriguez, 25, of Gray Court, SC, on five charges connected to the sexual exploitation of minors. Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigators with the Attorney General's Office made the arrest. Investigators with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Marshals Service and the Laurens County Sheriff's Office, all also members of the state's ICAC Task Force, assisted with the execution of the warrant and arrest.

Investigators state Rodriguez possessed multiple files of child sexual abuse material.  

Rodriguez was arrested on June 30, 2020. 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.

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.