North Augusta Man Sentenced for Possession of Child Pornography

Contact Person: Bill Day (803) 929-3000

Columbia, South Carolina---- United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated that James O'Neal Arthur, Jr., age 57, of North Augusta, South Carolina was sentenced in federal court in Columbia, South Carolina, for Possession of Child Pornography, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252S(a)(5)(B).  United States District Judge J. Michelle Childs of Columbia sentenced Arthur to 10 years imprisonment, Restitution of $66,000.00 to be paid to the victims, to be followed by Supervised Release for life during which time Arthur will be required to register as a sex offender.

Evidence presented at the change of plea hearing established that an internet audit by Authur’s employer on April 1, 2014 detected inappropriate activity. The audit revealed Arthur had been visiting inappropriate websites so Arthur was sent home while a review was conducted. While at home Arthur contacted co-employees in an effort to get them to hide laptop computers and hard drives he had in his office. A forensic examination of the material found in his office uncovered thousands of images of young females engaged in sexually suggestive/explicit conduct.  Further investigation revealed that Arthur had been producing child pornography videos for years from pictures he had taken of pre-teens and teens.

The case was investigated by agents of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations.  Assistant United States Attorney William E. Day II of the Columbia office prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

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