South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has announced the arrest of two Anderson County men on charges related to the sexual exploitation of minors. The suspects, Walter Cody Wiles, 32, from Starr, and Grant Thomason Roper, 23, from Easley, face a total of six charges after investigations by the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.
The Anderson County Sheriff’s Office led the arrests in these separate cases with support from investigators in the Attorney General’s Office. Both offices are members of South Carolina’s ICAC Task Force. According to authorities, CyberTipline reports from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) initiated the investigations that led to Wiles and Roper.
Investigators allege that both men distributed files containing child sexual abuse material. Wiles was taken into custody on September 30, 2025. He faces five counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor under state law (§16-15-405), each count carrying a potential sentence of up to ten years in prison.
Roper was arrested on October 1, 2025. He is charged with one count of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor under the same statute and faces up to ten years if convicted.
The South Carolina Attorney General’s Office will prosecute both cases.
Attorney General Wilson stated: “All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in a court of law.”
A note included in the announcement explained that child sexual abuse material (CSAM) is now used as a more accurate term than “child pornography” because it better reflects the nature of these crimes and avoids implying consent by victims.
