Attorney General Alan Wilson announces Greenville man sentenced to 31 years for Criminal Sexual Conduct with a Minor

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) – South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announces that on September 26^th, James Fortner, 48, pleaded guilty to one count of Criminal Sexual Conduct with a Minor, First Degree in Greenville County before the Honorable Judge Alex Kinlaw.

The investigation of Fortner began on March 15, 2020, when the victim reported to the Greenville Sheriff's Office that Fortner had sexually assaulted her from when she was nine years old until she was 14. The victim also provided the Sheriff's Office with a thumb drive containing pictures and videos of the assaults. 

On March 18, 2020, the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant on Fortner's home and seized several electronic devices. An investigator located approximately 20,000 files of child sexual abuse material and additional files showing Fortner abusing the victim. During an interview with investigators, Fortner stated he was responsible for the files of child sexual abuse material and made statements corroborating the victim's allegations. 

Judge Kinlaw sentenced Fortner to 31 years in prison. He will have to register as a sex offender upon his release and will be monitored by GPS for the rest of his life. The sentence will run concurrently with a 27-and-a-half-year federal sentence for manufacturing child sexual abuse material, which he received in July 2022 for the same set of facts. Fortner will be housed in the South Carolina Department of Corrections. 

The case was prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Stephen Ryan.