Attorney General Alan Wilson announces Aiken Co. man sentenced to 27 years for sex crimes against children

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) – Attorney General Alan Wilson announced that, on April 23rd, Oakley Snipes pleaded guilty in Aiken County to one count of Criminal Sexual Conduct with a Minor, First degree, and one count of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor, Third degree, before the Honorable Judge Courtney Clyburn Pope.

On November 16, 2023, Investigator Robert Sullivan, with the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office, received a cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding files of suspected child sexual abuse material associated with a social media account. According to the social media company, a user uploaded three files of child sexual abuse material. A search warrant was done for the social media account, and the subscriber came back as Oakley Snipes. The contents of the account included personal photos, documents, and conversations with other users. Included in the conversation history were discussions with other users regarding child sexual abuse material and sexual assault. In these conversations, Snipes indicated that he had other images and that he had engaged in sexual activity with minors in the past.

Further investigation revealed that the IP address associated with the uploads came back to Snipes’ home in Aiken County. On February 23, 2024, law enforcement executed a search warrant on the home. No child sexual abuse material (CSAM) was located on scene, but during an interview, Snipes admitted to viewing CSAM and indicated that he had an additional cell phone located at his place of business in Richmond County, Georgia.

Law enforcement in Richmond County executed a search warrant for the device. A forensic examination was done on the phone, and a folder was located labeled with a girl’s name that contained multiple videos.

In all, 283 videos and images of confirmed CSAM were found, along with 16 videos and images of the abuse of the girl who was named in the folder located on the defendant’s phone. Further investigation revealed the assault occurred in Aiken County.

Judge Pope sentenced Snipes to 27 years at the SC Department of Corrections, with credit for 786 days. He forfeited his seized devices, will have to register as a Tier 3 sex offender, and will be subject to lifetime GPS monitoring upon his release.

A special thanks to all the hard work the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office put into this case. We appreciate the work the agency does to help the ICAC Task Force protect the children of South Carolina.