(COLUMBIA, S.C.) - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the arrest of Larry Ray Vickery, Jr., 52, of Anderson, S.C., on seven 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 made the arrest. Investigators with the Anderson County Sheriff's Office, Anderson Police Department, S.C. Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon, and the U.S. Secret Service, all members of the state's ICAC Task Force, assisted with this investigation.
Investigators state Vickery distributed and possessed files of child sexual abuse material. Vickery was arrested on May 29, 2024. He is charged with five counts of sexual exploitation of a minor in the second degree (§16-15-405), a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment on each count; and two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor in the third degree (§16-15-410), a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment on each count.
The 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 (CSAM) is a more accurate reflection of the material involved in these crimes. "Pornography" can imply the child was a consenting participant. Globally, the term child pornography is being replaced by CSAM for this reason.