Once we received the electronic data from the search warrants and all of the data from the electronic devices, the investigators were able to track the snap chat and Instagram messages back to a single address which was located in the City of Cheraw. Once this address was identified a 15 year old female was brought to the Cheraw Police Department along with her mother and both were interviewed. During this interview the 15 year old female suspect confessed to creating these social media accounts where it would appear that they belonged to her ex-boyfriend. Once these accounts were created she began to send messages to the juvenile female victims asking for nude photos. She also confessed to sending the nude male photos to the victims. When the female suspect was asked what was her motivation for doing this she stated "Revenge, for their relationship ending and also she was jealous that her ex-boyfriend had been chosen to perform a solo in the State Finals for Band".
I would like to thank Detective Mike McGLoin, Sgt. James Henderson, Detective Nicole Scott and Detective Brad Redfearn for the extraordinary work they did on this case. This investigation required extreme dedication and determination to seek the truth. There was hundreds of hours spent investigating this case and with the assistance of the Computer Crimes Unit at SLED and the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force we were able to identify the suspect who was responsible for committing this crime, but more importantly the Cheraw Police Department Detective Unit was able to exonerate a young man who had been publicly accused of committing this crime.
The 15 Year Old juvenile female suspect will be charged in Family Court as a juvenile for the following charges:
Possession of Child Pornography -Multiple Counts
Disseminating Child Pornography - Multiple Counts
Producing Child Pornography - Multiple Counts