Aiken Co. man pleads guilty to sex crimes against children

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) – An Aiken County man pleaded guilty Tuesday to sex crimes against children. Jacob Sturgell pleaded guilty to one count of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor Third Degree in Aiken County before the Honorable Judge Courtney Clyburn Pope. 

In April of 2021, Investigators with the Aiken County Sheriff’s Department and the S.C. Attorney General’s Office began an investigation into the online distribution of child sexual abuse material after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children forwarded a report of an individual in Aiken County distributing child sexual abuse material. Investigators identified Sturgell’s home as being the source and executed a search warrant on the address. Investigators with the Sheriff’s department located additional files of child sexual abuse material on Sturgell’s phone. When confronted with the evidence, Sturgell made multiple confessions to Special Investigator Shannon Sturgill. 

Judge Clyburn Pope sentenced Sturgell to 10 years, suspended upon serving five years in prison followed by five years of probation. Assistant Attorney General Stephen Ryan prosecuted that charge.

Sturgell also pleaded guilty to Criminal Sexual Conduct with a Minor Third Degree and was sentenced to 10 years, suspended upon five years active time and 5 years of probation.  Ashley Hammock of the 2nd Circuit Solicitor’s Office prosecuted that charge. Those sentences will run concurrently. Upon his release, Sturgell will have to register as a sex offender and be required to maintain lifetime GPS monitoring.