Adam Sloan, a 40-year-old resident of Jackson, South Carolina, has been sentenced to over 17 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to producing child sexual abuse material. The sentencing was handed down by Senior United States District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie, who ordered Sloan to serve 210 months in prison followed by a term of life court-ordered supervision. Federal parole is not available.
Sloan’s conviction stems from an international investigation into an illicit online marketplace on the Dark Web. FBI agents identified Sloan as a user involved in online fraud and executed a search warrant at his home on April 18, 2023. A forensic review of electronic devices seized during the search revealed evidence supporting the charges and uncovered multiple files depicting child sexual abuse material. According to investigators, these materials included videos and images of several minor girls changing clothes, showering, and using the bathroom—captured by a hidden camera placed in various positions within Sloan’s bathroom. Analysts also found footage showing Sloan placing and adjusting the hidden camera. The victims were minors who had visited Sloan’s home for birthday parties, pool parties, and sleepovers.
The court also ordered restitution totaling $5,021 to be paid to one victim who requested it.
“This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the U.S. Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse,” according to information provided about the program. “Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, as well as to identify and rescue victims.” More details about Project Safe Childhood can be found at http://www.justice.gov/psc.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI Columbia Field Office with assistance from the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lee Holmes and Dean H. Secor prosecuted the case.
A note accompanying this announcement states that while federal statutes use the term “child pornography,” “child sexual abuse material” is preferred because it more accurately reflects both the abusive nature depicted in such images or videos and their impact on victims.
