Kershaw man arrested on Criminal Sexual Conduct with a Minor and related charges

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the arrest of Demario Markeece Early, 35, of Kershaw, S.C., on 12 charges connected to the sexual exploitation of a minor. Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigators with the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office made the arrest. 

Investigators state Early engaged in criminal sexual conduct with a minor and possessed files of child sexual abuse material.*

Early was arrested on August 8, 2025. He is charged with one count of criminal sexual conduct with a minor (§16-3-655(A)(1)); 10 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 failure to register (§23-03-470(A)), a misdemeanor offense.

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.