Attorney General Alan Wilson announces Alabama man pleads guilty to Communicating Obscene Messages

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) – Attorney General Alan Wilson announced that Joel Barton Hutcheson pleaded guilty to one count of Communicating Obscene Messages to Other Persons without Consent. He entered the plea on March 15, 2024, in front of Judge Deadra Jefferson.

Between August and October 2021, the Mount Pleasant Police Department conducted an undercover investigation in Charleston County. During the investigation, a person later identified to be Hutcheson began speaking to a person he reasonably believed to be 14 years old. During these months, Hutcheson spoke about sex with the 14-year-old persona. Hutcheson was arrested on August 2, 2022.

Judge Jefferson sentenced Hutcheson to three years in prison, with credit for 19 days, suspended to 4 years of probation under sex offender conditions. If he fails sex offender conditions, he may be subject to register as a sex offender.