A man from Waterloo, South Carolina, has been arrested on charges related to the sexual exploitation of a minor. The arrest was announced by South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson. Thomas Nicholas Rytter, 27, faces four felony charges after an investigation led by the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force within the Attorney General’s Office.
The Laurens County Sheriff’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations assisted in the investigation. Authorities began their inquiry after receiving a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). According to investigators, Rytter is accused of distributing and possessing files containing child sexual abuse material.
Rytter was taken into custody on September 19, 2025. He has been charged with one count of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor under state law (§16-15-405), which carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison if convicted. He also faces three counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor (§16-15-410), each punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment.
The case will be prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office.
Attorney General Wilson stated, “All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in a court of law.”
The term “child sexual abuse material” or CSAM is used because it more accurately describes these crimes than “pornography,” which can suggest consent where there is none. Internationally, authorities are moving toward using CSAM instead of “child pornography” for this reason.
