Pickens County Man Arrested on Child Sexual Abuse Material Charges

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) – South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the arrest of Richard Douglas Wooten, III, 57, of Easley, S.C., on 10 charges connected to the sexual exploitation of minors. Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigators with the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office made the arrest. Investigators with the Attorney General’s Office, also a member 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 Wooten. Investigators state Wooten possessed files of child sexual abuse material.

Wooten is charged with 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor third degree (§16-15-410), a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment on each count. He was arrested and booked into the Pickens County Detention Center on March 17th. Wooten was released the following day after posting $50,000 bond, according to detention center records.

This case will be prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office.

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