EDGEFIELD COUNTY, S.C. (WFXG) - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced Thursday the arrest of a twenty-two-year-old man on eleven charges connected to the sexual exploitation of minors. Richard Craig Stevens, II, of Edgefield, was arrested on March 13, 2023, by Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigators with the Edgefield County Sheriff's Office.

Stevens was arrested following a report received by investigators from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). Investigators say Stevens possessed files of child sexual abuse material, leading to his arrest and the filing of eleven counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor. This felony offense is punishable by up to ten years in prison on each count.

The Attorney General's Office, Aiken County Sheriff's Office, Homeland Security Investigations, and U.S. Secret Service, all members of the state's ICAC Task Force, assisted with the investigation. The case will be prosecuted by the Attorney General's Office.

Attorney General Wilson emphasized that all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. He also stressed the importance of cracking down on those who exploit children and praised the work of law enforcement agencies in investigating these crimes and bringing perpetrators to justice.

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