South Carolina Attorney Gen. Alan Wilson announced the arrest of Joseph Charles Pate III (age 42) of Greer on six charges connected to the exploitation of a minor.
Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigators with the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office made the arrest. Investigators with the Attorney General's Office and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), also members of the state's ICAC Task Force, assisted with the investigation.
Investigators received a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) which led them to Pate.
Investigators state Pate sent nude images to and solicited nude images from a minor victim via social media.
Pate was arrested on Wednesday and charged with five counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years' imprisonment on each count; and one count of disseminating obscene material to a person younger than 18, a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years' imprisonment.
The case will be prosecuted by the Attorney General's Office.
Wilson stressed all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in a court of law.
