South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has announced the arrest of Derrick Vaughn Nielsen, 43, of Sumter, South Carolina, on five charges related to the sexual exploitation of minors. The arrest was carried out by the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigators from the Sumter Police Department, with assistance from investigators with the Attorney General’s Office, which is also a member of the state’s ICAC Task Force.
The investigation began after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) submitted a CyberTipline report that led authorities to Nielsen. According to investigators, Nielsen is accused of distributing files containing child sexual abuse material.
Nielsen was taken into custody on October 22, 2025. He faces five counts of sexual exploitation of a minor in the second degree, a felony under South Carolina law (§16-15-405), which carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison for each count.
The Attorney General’s Office will prosecute the case.
Attorney General Wilson emphasized, “all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in a court of law.”
The term “child sexual abuse material” (CSAM) is used to more accurately describe the content involved in these crimes, as the word “pornography” may imply the child was a consenting participant. The use of CSAM is increasingly replacing the term “child pornography” globally for this reason.
