Fort Mill man arrested on Child Sexual Abuse Material* and related charges

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the arrest of Wesley Keith Zimmer, 30, of Fort Mill, S.C., on five charges connected to the sexual exploitation of a minor. Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigators with the York County Sheriff's Office made the arrest. Investigators with the Attorney General's Office, also a member of the state's ICAC Task Force, the Greenup County Sheriff's Office, and the Russell Police Department, both out of Kentucky, all assisted with the investigation.

Investigators received a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which led them to Zimmer. Investigators state Zimmer produced child sexual abuse material, distributed and possessed files of child sexual abuse material, and sent sexually explicit images to a minor.

Zimmer was arrested on January 23, 2025. He is charged with one count of sexual exploitation of a minor, first degree (§16-15-395), a felony offense punishable by up to 20 years imprisonment; one count of sexual exploitation of a minor, second degree (§16-15-405), a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment; 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; and one count of dissemination of obscene material to a person under age eighteen (§16-15-345), a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment.

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.