Palmetto State News

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the arrest of Grant Neth Herman, 56, of Taylors, S.C., and Brett Kenneth Willis, 27, of Easley, S.C., on 12 total charges connected to the sexual exploitation of minors. Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigators with the Greenville County Sheriff's Office and Pickens 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 a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) which led them to both Herman and Willis. Investigators state Herman distributed and possessed files of child sexual abuse material and Willis possessed files of child sexual abuse material.

Herman was arrested on August 8, 2024. He is charged with one count of sexual exploitation of a minor, second degree (§16-15-405), a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment; and one count of sexual exploitation of a minor, third degree (§16-15-410), a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment.

Willis was arrested on August 14, 2024. He is charged with 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, third degree (§16-15-410), 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," he noted, "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.