Charleston County Man Arrested on Child Sexual Abuse Material* and Related Charges

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the arrest of Adam Taylor Cossette, 31, on five charges connected to the attempted sexual exploitation of a minor. Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigators with the Charleston County Sheriff's Office made the arrest. 

Investigators state Cossette solicited a person he believed to be a minor for sex, encouraged them to produce child sexual abuse material, and encouraged a minor to engage in prostitution.

Cossette was arrested on June 21, 2024. He is charged with three counts of criminal solicitation of a minor (§16-15-342), a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment on each count; one count of sexual exploitation of a minor, first degree (§16-15-395), a felony offense punishable by up to 20 years imprisonment; and one count of promoting the prostitution of a minor (§16-15-415(A)).

This case will be prosecuted by the Attorney General's Office.

Attorney General Wilson stressed all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in a court of law.

* Child sexual abuse material, or CSAM, is a more accurate reflection of the material involved in these heinous and abusive crimes. "Pornography" can imply the child was a consenting participant.  Globally, the term child pornography is being replaced by CSAM for this reason.