Attorney General Alan Wilson, law enforcement, applaud passage of bill with tougher penalties for sex crimes against children

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) – Today at the Statehouse, Attorney General Alan Wilson, Sheriffs, and members of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force thanked state lawmakers for passing a bill to strengthen penalties against child predators.

“This law is a strong message to child predators,” Attorney General Wilson said. “South Carolina will hold those who exploit children fully accountable for their crimes.”

Attorney General Wilson first proposed the tougher sentences in 2025, and Rep. Travis Moore, R-Spartanburg Co., and Sen. Allen Blackmon, R-Kershaw Co., shepherded the bill, H.4804, through the legislature. It passed the House and Senate unanimously.

The new law will:

• Raise the mandatory minimum sentences for creating and distributing Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM).
• Create a new mandatory minimum sentence for possessing CSAM.
• Create a tiered sentencing system, so the more images and videos someone possesses, the longer the sentence.
• Create a mandatory minimum sentence of five years for any registered sex offender found guilty of possessing CSAM.

Last year, Attorney General Wilson proposed, and the legislature passed, a new law making it illegal to create, possess, or distribute AI-generated or morphed sexual images of individuals without their consent. South Carolina’s ICAC Task Force and law enforcement around the country are seeing more and more CSAM created by Artificial Intelligence.