Attorney General Alan Wilson announces Fairfield Co. man gets 9-year sentence for sexual exploitation of minors

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) – South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced that on October 16, 2023, Jonathan David Neel pleaded guilty in Fairfield County before Judge Jocelyn Newman to one count of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor, 2nd degree, and one count of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor, 1^st degree.

On April 19, 2021, Special Investigator Lucinda McKeller with the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office received a CyberTip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding child sexual abuse material being shared online from a resident of South Carolina to a 13-year-old minor in Alabama. Further investigation revealed that Neel reached out to the minor online and solicited her for sexual activity. He also sent the minor additional videos of obscene material. Around the same time, Special Investigator McKeller was made aware of conversations between Neel and a separate 13-year-old minor in Virginia. Information found on that minor’s cell phone revealed sexual conversations, pictures of Neel’s face and nude images shared between the minor and Neel in April and May of 2021. A search warrant was executed on Neel’s residence in Fairfield County on August 5, 2021. Account information associated with the CyberTip and the investigation was visible on a computer up and running in Neel’s bedroom at the time of the search warrant. A forensic examination of Neel’s cell phone revealed usernames and artifacts associated with the investigation and searches for child sexual abuse material.

Judge Newman sentenced Neel to a total of nine years at the South Carolina Department of Corrections. He received a sentence of four years on the Sexual Exploitation of a Minor, 2^nd degree, to be followed by a sentence of five years for the Sexual Exploitation of a Minor, 1^st degree. He received credit for 30 days in jail and will have to register as a Tier 2 sex offender. He forfeited his seized devices.