Summerville man arrested on multiple counts of child abuse material

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the arrest of Christopher Michael McCoy, 45, of Summerville, S.C., on 13 charges related to the sexual exploitation of a minor. Investigators with the Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force made the arrest. Investigators from the Attorney General’s Office, also a member of the state’s ICAC Task Force, assisted in the investigation.

Investigators allege McCoy distributed and possessed files containing child sexual abuse material.

McCoy was arrested on September 16, 2024. He is charged with two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, second degree (§16-15-405), a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison per count; and 11 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, third degree (§16-15-410), a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison per count.

The case will be prosecuted by the Public Prosecution Service.

Attorney General Wilson stressed that all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

* Child sexual abuse material, or CSAM, is a more accurate representation of the material involved in these heinous and abusive crimes. “Pornography” can imply that the child was a consenting participant. Worldwide, the term child pornography is being replaced by CSAM for this reason.