Darlington County men arrested on Child Sexual Abuse Material* charges

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the arrest of Michael Thomas Allen, 24, of Hartsville, S.C., and Wyman Troy Manuel, 55, of Hartsville, S.C., on seven total charges connected to the sexual exploitation of minors. Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigators with the South Carolina Attorney General's Office made the arrests in these unrelated cases. Investigators with the Darlington County Sheriff's Office, Homeland Security Investigations, and U.S. Secret Service, all also members of the state's ICAC Task Force, assisted with these investigations.

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

Allen was arrested on January 15, 2025. He is charged with two 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.

Manuel was arrested on January 15, 2025. He is charged with five 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.

Both of these cases 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.