AUG 13, 2020

Columbia Man Arrested on Child Sexual Abuse Material* Charges

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) - Aug. 13, 2020 - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the arrest of Thos Edward Gates, 79, of Columbia, S.C., on five charges connected to the sexual exploitation of minors. Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigators with the Columbia Police Department made the arrest. Investigators with the S.C. Attorney General's Office, also a member of the state's ICAC Task Force, assisted with the investigation.

 

Investigators state Gates distributed and possessed files of child sexual abuse material.  

 

Gates was arrested on August 13, 2020. He is charged with 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.

 

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.

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