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The office of South Carolina attorney general Alan Wilson announced the arrest of a Lexington, S.C. man on ten charges related to the sexual exploitation of a minor.
According to a news release from Wilson’s office, his Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force arrested 31-year-old Thomas Clinton Jordan Lockridge of Lexington, S.C. last Friday (July 19, 2024).
Lockridge was charged with six counts of second degree sexual exploitation of a minor in violation of S.C. Code of Laws § 16-15-405 – along with four counts of third degree sexual exploitation of a minor in violate of § 16-15-410, according to the release. He faces up to ten years in prison on each charge and a potential mandatory minimum sentence of two years on each of the second degree charges.
Second degree child sexual exploitation refers to anyone who “records, photographs, films, develops, duplicates, produces, or creates digital electronic file material that contains a visual representation of a minor engaged in sexual activity or appearing in a state of sexually explicit nudity when a reasonable person would infer the purpose is sexual stimulation.”
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The statute – which is a felony – also applies to any individual who “distributes, transports, exhibits, receives, sells, purchases, exchanges, or solicits” such material.
Third degree child sexual exploitation refers to anyone who “possesses material that contains a visual representation of a minor engaging in sexual activity or appearing in a state of sexually explicit nudity when a reasonable person would infer the purpose is sexual stimulation.”
“Investigators state Lockridge distributed and possessed files of child sexual abuse material,” Wilson’s office noted, using the new term for child pornography.
According to probable cause affidavits accompanying the warrants for his arrest, Lockridge was found in possession of a Motorola Razr smart phone which allegedly contained multiple nude photos of a 13-year-old female” sitting in a bathtub with her “bare breasts and vagina” exposed. The Razr phone also allegedly contained “a video of a 13-year-old female providing oral sex for an adult male, believed to be the defendant.”
Warrants also described Lockridge allegedly screenshotting multiple nude images from a Snapchat video chat with a 13-year-old female. These images were reportedly found on a TLC cell phone. He also allegedly used an iPhone to take photos of explicit content displayed on the TLC phone – including an image of a “10- to 12-year-old female child pulling her shirt up with her teeth and exposing her budding breast area.”
According to Wilson’s office, the term 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,” the release noted. “Globally, the term child pornography is being replaced by CSAM for this reason.”
As with anyone accused of committing any crime, Lockridge is considered innocent until proven guilty by our criminal justice system – or until such time as he may wish to enter some form of allocution in connection with a plea agreement with prosecutors related to any of the charges filed against him.
This is a breaking news story based on the latest information available. Stay with FITSNews for updates …
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina and before that he was a bass guitarist and dive bar bouncer. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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