Chester County Man Arrested on Child Sexual Abuse Material* Charges

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the arrest of John Edward Prigmore, 43, of Fort Lawn, S.C., on two charges connected to the sexual exploitation of minors. Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigators with the Attorney General's Office made the arrest. Investigators with the  Chester County Sheriff's Office, U.S. Secret Service, and Homeland Security Investigations, all also members of the state's ICAC Task Force, assisted with the investigation.

Investigators received a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) which led them to Prigmore. Investigators state Prigmore possessed files of child sexual abuse material.

Prigmore was arrested on May16, 2023. He is charged with two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor third degree (§16-15-410), a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment on each count.

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.