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

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the arrest of Julio Cesar Reyes De La Cruz, 29, of Anderson, S.C., on six 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 from the Anderson County Sheriff's Office, U.S. Secret Service, Homeland Security Investigations, and S.C. Law Enforcement Division, all also members of the state's ICAC Task Force, assisted with the investigation.  

Investigators state Cruz engaged in criminal sexual conduct with a minor and manufactured and distributed files of child sexual abuse material.*

Cruz was arrested on February 9, 2024. He is charged with two counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor (§16-3-655(A)(1)); 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 two 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.