Attorney General Alan Wilson announces SC receiving $100K grant to support ICAC team and victims

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) – Attorney General Alan Wilson announced today that the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office will receive a $100,000 grant from the Attorney General Alliance (AGA) to support the mental health of his office’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force team members and child victims.

“Our ICAC team works tirelessly to investigate and prosecute the predators who exploit our children online. That means our people are constantly exposed to disturbing child sexual abuse material as they catalog the photos and videos as evidence and look for victims who might still be being abused,” Attorney General Wilson said. “Dealing with such traumatic content takes a toll on their mental and emotional health, so we’re grateful for this grant that will allow us to put several new mental health tools in place, which will also help us when we deal with victims.”

In addition to helping ICAC team members, the grant money will also be used to help child victims as they deal with the trauma they’ve experienced.

Senior Assistant Deputy Attorney General Camille Guthrie, head of the ICAC section, said, “The South Carolina Attorney General’s ICAC section is very appreciative of the grant awarded by the AG Alliance. This will allow our agency to provide further for the mental health needs of our dedicated investigators and attorneys, while also helping us provide additional comfort and aid to the victims of the crimes we prosecute.”

Attorney General Wilson said he hopes the additional mental health support will help the office retain its dedicated employees.

“Dealing with such horrific material all the time has made it difficult to recruit and retain people to do this vital work in protecting our children and catching predators, so we appreciate the difference this grant from the AGA will make,” said Attorney General Wilson.