COLUMBIA, SC – South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the arrest of James Edward Belue, III, 37, of Union, S.C., on 21 charges connected to the sexual exploitation of minors. Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigators with the Attorney General’s Office made the arrest. Investigators with the Union County Sheriff’s Office, also a member of the state’s ICAC Task Force, assisted with this investigation.
Investigators received a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) which led them to Belue. Investigators state Belue distributed and possessed files of child sexual abuse material.
Belue was arrested on December 8, 2020. He is charged with two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, second degree (§16-15-405), a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment on each count; and 19 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.
This case will be prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office.