South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has announced the arrest of Vicente Tapia Diaz, a 36-year-old resident of North Charleston, on six counts related to the sexual exploitation of minors. The charges stem from an investigation by the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, with the Mount Pleasant Police Department leading the arrest and assistance provided by Homeland Security Investigations, both part of the state’s ICAC Task Force.
Authorities allege that Diaz possessed files containing child sexual abuse material. He was taken into custody on August 20, 2025. The charges against him—six counts of sexual exploitation of a minor in the third degree under South Carolina law (§16-15-410)—are felonies and each carries a potential penalty of up to ten years in prison.
The South Carolina Attorney General’s Office will prosecute the case.
Attorney General Wilson stated: “All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in a court of law.”
The press release also clarified terminology regarding such crimes: Child sexual abuse material (CSAM) is considered a more accurate term than “child pornography,” as it avoids implying consent by minors and better reflects the abusive nature of these offenses. The term CSAM is increasingly being adopted worldwide for this reason.
