South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has announced the arrest of Charlie Jay Pettigrew, a 34-year-old resident of Duncan, South Carolina. Pettigrew faces three charges related to the sexual exploitation of a minor. The arrest was carried out by investigators from the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, which operates within the Attorney General’s Office. They received support from the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations, and the U.S. Secret Service, all part of the state’s ICAC Task Force.
The investigation into Pettigrew was initiated following a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). According to investigators, Pettigrew was involved in the distribution of child sexual abuse material.
Pettigrew was taken into custody on April 22, 2025, and is facing three felony charges of sexual exploitation of a minor in the second degree. Each charge carries a potential punishment of up to 10 years in prison if found guilty.
The prosecution of this case will be managed by the Attorney General’s Office. In his statement, Attorney General Wilson emphasized, “all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in a court of law.”
The use of the term ‘child sexual abuse material’ (CSAM) was clarified in the context of the arrest. It is preferred over the term ‘child pornography,’ which can imply consent, as a more accurate depiction of the crimes involved.
