RALEIGH, NC – South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the arrest of Benjamin Holland Weaver, 20, of Raleigh, NC, on seven charges related to the sexual exploitation of minors. Investigators from the Internet Child Crimes Task Force (ICAC) with the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office made the arrest. Investigators from the SC Attorney General’s Office, also a member of the state’s ICAC Task Force, and the Furman University Police Department assisted in the investigation.
The investigators received a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that took them to Weaver. Investigators say Weaver distributed several files of child sexual abuse material.
Weaver was arrested on January 4, 2021. He is charged with seven counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, second degree (§16-15-405), a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison on each charge.
This case will be judged by the Attorney General’s Office.
Attorney General Wilson emphasized that all defendants are found not guilty unless and until proven guilty in court.
* Child sexual abuse material, or CSAM, is a more accurate reflection of the material involved in these heinous and abusive crimes. “Pornography” may imply that the child was a consenting participant. Globally, the term child pornography is being replaced by CSAM for this reason.
