Lancaster County Man Arrested on Child Sexual Abuse Material* Charges

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the arrest of Samuel Wayne Flowers, age 32, of Kershaw, S.C., on three 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. Homeland Security Investigations, also a member of the state's ICAC Task Force, assisted with the arrest and will conduct the forensic examination of evidence. Virginia State Police also identified Flowers as having active warrants.

Investigators received Cybertips about the uploading of Child Sexual Abuse Material* on social media, which led them to Flowers.  Investigators state Flowers distributed and possessed child sexual abuse material.  

Flowers was arrested on March 8, 2022.  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; and one count of sexual exploitation of a minor, third degree (§16-15-410), 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.