Lexington County Man Arrested on Criminal Sexual Conduct with a Minor and Related Charges

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) - Aug. 11, 2020 - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the arrest of Sean Bandelier, 42, of Gaston, SC, on seven charges connected to the sexual exploitation of a minor. Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigators with the Lexington County Sheriff's Office made the arrest. Investigators with the Albuquerque (NM) Police Department, a member of the New Mexico ICAC Task Force, assisted with this investigation.

Investigators state Bandelier engaged in criminal sexual conduct with a minor, as well as produced and distributed files of child sexual abuse material*.

Bandelier was arrested on August 5, 2020. He is charged with two 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; and three 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.  

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.