South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the arrest of Thomas Clinton Jordan Lockridge, 31, of Lexington, S.C., on ten 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 Lexington County Sheriff's Office, also a member of the state's ICAC Task Force, assisted with this investigation.
Investigators state Lockridge distributed and possessed files of child sexual abuse material.
Lockridge was arrested on July 19, 2024. He is charged with six 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 four 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.
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, 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.