Palmetto State News

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the arrest of Anton Christopher Lelingis,  42, of  Ladson, S.C., and Richard Keith O'Brien, 46, of Harleyville. S.C. on 15 total charges connected to the sexual exploitation of minors. Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigators with the Dorchester County Sheriff's Office made the arrests in these unrelated cases. Investigators with the Attorney General's Office, also a member of the state's ICAC Task Force, assisted with these investigations.

 Investigators received CyberTipline reports from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) which led them to both Lelingis and O'Brien. Investigators state both Lelingis and O'Brien distributed files of child sexual abuse material.

 Lelingis was arrested on June 30, 2023. He is charged with three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, second degree (§16-15-405), a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment on each count.

 O'Brien was arrested on July 6, 2023. He is charged with 12 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, second degree (§16-15-405), a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment on each count.

 These cases will be prosecuted by the Attorney General's Office.

 Attorney General Wilson stressed all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in a court of law.

* Child sexual abuse material, or CSAM, is a more accurate reflection of the material involved in these heinous and abusive crimes. "Pornography" can imply the child was a consenting participant.  Globally, the term child pornography is being replaced by CSAM for this reason. 

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