South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has announced the arrest of two Anderson County men on charges related to the sexual exploitation of minors. Walter Cody Wiles, 32, from Starr, and Grant Thomason Roper, 23, from Easley, were taken into custody by Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigators with the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office in separate cases. The Attorney General’s Office, also part of the state’s ICAC Task Force, assisted in these investigations.
The arrests followed CyberTipline reports received from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which led investigators to Wiles and Roper. According to authorities, both men are accused of distributing files containing child sexual abuse material.
Wiles was arrested on September 30, 2025. He faces five counts of sexual exploitation of a minor in the second degree (§16-15-405), each count carrying a potential sentence of up to ten years in prison.
Roper was arrested on October 1, 2025. He is charged with one count of sexual exploitation of a minor in the second degree (§16-15-405), also punishable by up to ten years imprisonment.
The Attorney General’s Office will prosecute both cases.
Attorney General Wilson stated: “All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in a court of law.”
The term “child sexual abuse material” (CSAM) is used instead of “child pornography” because it more accurately describes the abusive nature of these crimes and avoids implying that children can consent to such acts. The use of CSAM is becoming standard globally for this reason.
