South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has announced the arrest of Francisco Simon Francisco Tomas, a 24-year-old resident of Gaston, South Carolina. Tomas faces five charges related to the sexual exploitation of minors. The Lexington County Sheriff’s Department, part of the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, conducted the arrest with assistance from investigators in the Attorney General’s Office.
The investigation began after authorities received a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). According to investigators, Tomas was found in possession of files containing child sexual abuse material.
Tomas was taken into custody on December 16, 2025. He is charged with five counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor under South Carolina law (§16-15-410), each count carrying a possible sentence of up to ten years in prison.
The Attorney General’s Office will prosecute this case. Attorney General Wilson emphasized due process, stating: “All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in a court of law.”
Child sexual abuse material (CSAM) is now used as a more precise term for such offenses. The term “pornography” may imply consent by minors, so CSAM better reflects the criminal nature involved.
The South Carolina Attorney General’s office acts as the state’s chief legal advocate and enforcer and handles prosecutions such as this one. It collaborates with law enforcement agencies statewide on criminal cases and provides victim support services to enhance community safety (source). Alan Wilson leads these efforts as head of the office (source).
The office also maintains regulatory authority over securities and consumer protection matters across South Carolina (source), functioning within public safety and legal sectors at the state level (source).
