Conway Man Arrested on Child Sexual Abuse Material* Charges

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the arrest of Ricky Lane Shook, Sr., age 61, of Conway, S.C., on 13 charges connected to the sexual exploitation of a minor. Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigators with the Horry County Sheriff's Office made the arrest. The Horry County Police Department, also a member of the ICAC Task Force, assisted with the arrest.

Investigators received a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which led them to Shook. Investigators state Shook distributed child sexual abuse material.  

Shook was arrested on March 10, 2022. He is charged with 13 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, second degree (§16-15-405), 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.