South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has announced the arrest of Steven Jeffrey Lynch, a 62-year-old resident of Blackville, South Carolina. Lynch faces three charges related to the sexual exploitation of minors. The arrest was made by Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigators from the Barnwell County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the Attorney General’s Office, also part of the state’s ICAC Task Force.
The investigation began after receiving a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which directed authorities to Lynch. Investigators allege that Lynch was in possession of files containing child sexual abuse material.
Lynch was taken into custody on May 28, 2025, and is charged with three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor in the third degree (§16-15-410). This felony offense carries a potential penalty of up to 10 years imprisonment for each count.
The Attorney General’s Office will prosecute the case. Attorney General Wilson emphasized that “all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in a court of law.”
Child sexual abuse material (CSAM) is increasingly used as a term instead of “child pornography” because it more accurately reflects the nature of these crimes. The latter term can misleadingly suggest that children were willing participants in such acts.
