Hartsville men arrested on Child Sexual Abuse Material* charges

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the arrest of Barney Eugene Smith, Jr., 54, of Hartsville, S.C., and Jeremy Dylan Dixon, 32, of Hartsville, S.C., on four total charges connected to the sexual exploitation of minors. Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigators with the Attorney General's Office made the arrests in these unrelated cases. Investigators with the Darlington County Sheriff's Office, Hartsville Police Department, and Homeland Security Investigations, all also members of the state's ICAC Task Force, assisted with these investigations.

Investigators received CyberTipline reports from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which led them to Smith and Dixon. Investigators state that Smith and Dixon distributed files of child sexual abuse material.  

Smith was arrested on April 9, 2026. 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.

Dixon was arrested on April 9, 2026. 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.

These cases will be prosecuted by the Attorney General's Office.

Attorney General Wilson stressed that 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.