Palmetto State News

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the arrest of Nicholas Michael Lehner, 25, of Summerville, S.C., and Davron Ulugbekovich Madaminov, 22, of Mount Pleasant, S.C., on five total charges related to the sexual exploitation of minors. The Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigators with the Dorchester County Sheriff's Office and Mount Pleasant Police Department conducted the arrests in these unrelated cases. Homeland Security Investigations, also a member of the state's ICAC Task Force, assisted with the investigation.

The investigators received a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which led them to Lehner. According to investigators, Lehner was found in possession of files containing child sexual abuse material. Similarly, Madaminov is accused by investigators of manufacturing and distributing files of child sexual abuse material.

Lehner was arrested on May 8, 2024. He is charged with one count of sexual exploitation of a minor, third degree (§16-15-410), a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment.

Madaminov was arrested on May 3, 2024. He faces one count of sexual exploitation of a minor, first degree (§16-15-395), a felony offense punishable by up to 20 years imprisonment; and three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, second degree (§16-15-405), each being a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment.

The Attorney General's Office will prosecute these cases. Attorney General Wilson emphasized that all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in court.

Child sexual abuse material or CSAM is used as an accurate term reflecting the material involved in these heinous crimes. The term "pornography" can imply that the child was a consenting participant. Globally, the term child pornography is being replaced by CSAM for this reason.