Manning man found not guilty of criminal solicitation of a minor in Beaufort courtroom
Michael Johnson / Special to the Times From left to right, Austin Seitz, Andrew Stone and Josh Jordan cooked as team Ham Right of Clarendon County on Saturday at the barbecue challenge.
A jury in Beaufort County took about 40 minutes Thursday to decide that a Manning man was not guilty of criminal solicitation of a minor and attempted dissemination of obscene materials to a minor.
William Mathis Ardis, 31, was arrested March 11, 2010, during an undercover Internet sting by the state Attorney General's Office. Warrants alleged Ardis had solicited sex on the Internet from an individual he believed to be a minor girl in January 2010. He was communicating with an undercover investigator with the Internet Crimes Task Force.
He faced up to 10 years each for both counts, along with lifetime registration as a sex offender.
"This has been the longest four years of my life," Ardis said Friday in a release from Kent Law Firm. Ardis was represented by attorney Shaun Kent during his four-day trial in Beaufort.
"I am very happy to finally have my name cleared," Ardis added. "I have maintained the entire time that I have done nothing wrong. I am just very fortunate that the jury acted quickly, accurately and honestly. I am very blessed."
