By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com

COUNTY — Two Pickens County men face charges in unrelated cases connected to the sexual exploitation of minors, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced Monday.

Logan Tyler Smith, 20, of Central, and Sergio Eduardo Salinas Maradiaga, 20, of Easley, were arrested on 13 total charges, Wilson said in a release.

Investigators received a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that led them to both Smith and Maradiaga, Wilson said.

Wilson said investigators allege Smith and Maradiaga both possessed files of child sexual abuse material, or CSAM, a more accurate reflection of the material involved in these “heinous and abusive crimes.” CSAM is replacing the term “child pornography” globally, as “pornography” can imply the child was a consenting participant, he said.

Smith was arrested on Jan. 11 and is charged with three counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment on each count, Wilson said.

Maradiaga was arrested the next day and is charged with 10 counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, Wilson said.

Wilson said Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigators with the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office made the arrests. Investigators with his office, which is also an ICAC Task Force member, assisted with the investigations, he said.

Wilson said his office will prosecute both cases and stressed all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in a court of law.

NCMEC’s CyberTipline is the nation’s centralized reporting system for the online exploitation of children. Using the CyberTipline, the public and electronic service providers can make reports of suspected online enticement of children for sexual acts, child sexual molestation, child sexual abuse material, child sex tourism and child sex trafficking, unsolicited obscene materials sent to a child, misleading domain names and misleading words or digital images on the internet.

Find the CyberTipline at missingkids.org or report.cybertip.org.