Midlands men arrested on Child Sexual Abuse Material* charges

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the arrest of Donald Cyril Barkhoff, 52, of Columbia, S.C., and Ethan Rylee Roberts, 18, of Lexington, S.C., on three total charges connected to the sexual exploitation of a minor. Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigators with the South Carolina Attorney General's Office and Lexington County Sheriff's Office made the arrests in these unrelated cases. Investigators with the U.S. Marshals Service, also a member 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 Barkhoff and Roberts. Investigators state Barkhoff possessed files of child sexual abuse material and Roberts distributed files of child sexual abuse material.  

Barkhoff was arrested on January 13, 2026. He is charged with 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.

Roberts was arrested on January 14, 2026. He is charged with one count of sexual exploitation of a minor, second degree (§16-15-405), a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment.

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.