A Columbia man has been arrested on charges related to the sexual exploitation of a minor, according to an announcement by South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson. Joshua Robert Perez, 35, was taken into custody on May 21, 2025. The arrest was made by investigators from the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force within the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office.
The investigation involved multiple agencies including the Richland County Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Secret Service, and Army Criminal Investigations Division, all 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 identified Perez as a suspect.
Perez faces eight charges in total: three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor in the second degree and five counts in the third degree. Each count is classified as a felony offense that carries a potential sentence of up to 10 years imprisonment.
The case will be prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office. Attorney General Wilson emphasized that “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 to describe these crimes instead of “pornography,” as it more accurately reflects the nature of the material involved.
