LEXINGTON, S.C. ― A Richmond County man is one of 22 from across the country recently charged in an online sex predator sting in South Carolina.
The Lexington County Sheriff’s Department has charged 56-year-old Samuel Alan Laytham, of Cordova, with one count each of criminal solicitation of a minor and unlawful dissemination of obscene material to a person under 18.
South Carolina records show Laytham was arrested Aug. 30 and given a $4,000 personal recognisance bond but no court date is listed.
Laytham and the other 21 men were charged as part of an undercover investigation spanning several months “targeting potential sexual predators trying to contact children for sexual activity,” according to the sheriff’s office.
Including Laytham, four of the men are from North Carolina and 11 are from South Carolina. There is also one defendant each from Georgia, Florida, Arizona, New Jersey, New York, Maine and Washington.
The defendants range in age from 21-56, with Laytham being the oldest: six are in their 50s; six in their 40s; and five each in the 20s and 30s age groups.
“These arrests bring our arrest total to 33 suspects from the operation we hosted earlier this year with the Lexington Police Department and the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office,” Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said in a press release. “The intent of these suspects during these communications is clear. They wanted to persuade, entice or coerce someone they reasonably believed to be under the age of 18 to engage in sexual activity.
“Without strong relationships between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, operations like this would not be possible,” Koon said.
The sheriff also said that no children were ever used or placed in danger.
Online records show Laytham has no pending charges or previous convictions in North Carolina.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.