NOV 19, 2020

Georgia Man Arrested on Child Sexual Abuse Material* and Related Charges

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) - Nov. 19, 2020 - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the arrest of Craig Randall Chaires, 68, of Midway, Ga., on four charges connected to the attempted sexual exploitation of a minor.  Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigators with the Marion County Sheriff's Office made the arrest.  

 

Investigators state Chaires solicited a person he believed to be a minor for sex, traveled to meet a person he believed to be a minor for sex, and encouraged them to produce child sexual abuse material.

 

Chaires was arrested on November 18, 2020. He is charged with one count of attempted criminal solicitation of a minor (§16-15-342), a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment; one count of attempted criminal sexual conduct with a minor (§16-3-655); one count of attempted sexual exploitation of a minor, first degree (§16-15-395), a felony offense punishable by up to 20 years imprisonment; and one count of attempted promoting the prostitution of a minor (§16-15-415), a felony offense punishable by up to 20 years imprisonment.

 

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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