Attorney General Alan Wilson announces Upstate men sentenced to prison for sexual exploitation of children

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) – Attorney General Alan Wilson announces that two Greenville County men have both been sentenced to five years in prison in unrelated cases for the sexual exploitation of minors.

On March 1, Norman Winkles pleaded guilty to three counts of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor, third degree.

On September 11, 2018, the Greenville County Sheriff’s office received five cybertips regarding the uploading of child sexual abuse material to an online account. This account was linked to Winkles. A search warrant was executed at his home on April 23, 2019, and investigators seized computer-related items. At the time of the search warrant, Winkles confessed to viewing and saving child sexual abuse material. In all, he possessed over 2,000 images and videos of child sexual abuse material in his online storage accounts.

Judge Alex Kinlaw, Jr. sentenced Winkles to five years at the South Carolina Department of Corrections. He will receive credit for 287 days in jail and he will be required to register as a sex offender.

Also on March 1, Harold Elton Tindall, Jr. pleaded guilty to one count of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor, second degree, and one count of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor, third degree.

In February 2015, Special Investigator Kevin Atkins with the SC Attorney General’s Office was sent files of child sexual abuse material from a user on a file-sharing network. After obtaining subscriber information for this user, Tindall’s residence in Greenville County was identified as the location the files were being sent from. Law enforcement officers from the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office, Charleston Police Department, Florence County Sheriff’s Office, and Aiken County Sheriff’s Office reached out to Sp. Inv. Atkins to confirm they had been sent files from this user as well. Investigators carried out a search warrant at Tindall’s residence and seized computer-related items. After a forensic examination of those items, investigators found additional child sexual abuse material on a computer and several CDs.

Judge Kinlaw sentenced Tindall to five years in prison on both charges to run concurrently. He was given credit for 277 days. He consented to the forfeiture of his seized equipment and must register as a tier II sex offender upon his release.