A 65-year-old Greenwood man was arrested on two felony charges connected to the sexual exploitation of a minor after investigators searched his Orchard Park Drive home earlier this month. James Patrick Regan now faces one count of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, each punishable by up to 10 years in prison if he is convicted.
CyberTipline Report Set Off the Investigation
According to the Index-Journal, investigators with the Attorney General's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force received a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that led them to Regan. Investigators allege Regan distributed child sexual abuse material and separately allege he possessed it, the paper reports. Per an arrest warrant cited by the Index-Journal, Regan is accused of distributing material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor through Google on or about April 19, and of possessing between 26 and 250 images depicting minors in sexual activity or sexually explicit nudity on or about Oct. 16.
Investigators executed a search warrant at the Orchard Park Drive residence on Oct. 16, with the Greenwood Police Department assisting in the search, the outlet notes. The South Carolina Attorney General's Office led the investigation and made the arrest, while Greenwood police officers transported Regan to the Greenwood County Detention Center.
Medical Delay Before Booking
Regan was initially denied processing at the detention center because of an elevated heart rate, per the police report cited by the Index-Journal. He was then taken to Self Regional Healthcare for medical clearance, where Attorney General's Office personnel took custody of him before he was returned to the detention center and booked. Greenwood Police Department records clerk Robin Adams confirmed to the paper that Regan was later released on bond set by a county judge.
The specific bond amount and conditions were not immediately available, according to the Index-Journal's reporting. Attorney General's Office communications director Robert Kittle told the paper that prosecutors typically request internet-access restrictions as a bond condition in cases like this one, and he indicated that a phone, computer or both would likely have been confiscated during the investigation — though he did not confirm which devices were actually seized or the specifics of Regan's bond conditions.
What the Charges Could Mean
South Carolina's statute on sexual exploitation of a minor, codified under Title 16 of the South Carolina Code of Laws, describes the offense as occurring when a person distributes, transports, exhibits, receives, sells, purchases, exchanges or solicits material containing a visual representation of a minor, or a morphed image, under conditions spelled out in the law. The Attorney General's Office will prosecute Regan's case, and in a news release cited by the Index-Journal, Attorney General Alan Wilson emphasized that all defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
A Similar Case in Mount Pleasant
Regan's arrest follows a comparable case in Mount Pleasant, where 23-year-old Carson Dean Barry was arrested in September and charged with five counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of criminal solicitation of a minor, according to ABC News 4. That investigation also began with a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and drew assistance from the Attorney General's Office, Homeland Security Investigations, the Summerville Police Department and the Charleston County Sheriff's Office. Authorities said they confiscated a computer tower and two iPhones from Barry containing child sexual abuse material and footage of a minor being sexually assaulted by an adult male; Barry was granted a total $1 million bond, and each of his charges carried a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
Cases like these are surfacing amid a sharp rise in CyberTipline activity nationwide. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children reported that child sex trafficking reports to the CyberTipline increased 323% in 2025 compared with the prior year, and the tipline received 1.4 million reports concerning online enticement of children last year. Financial sextortion reports averaged 137 per day in 2025, a 37% jump over the previous year, and reports with a generative artificial intelligence nexus topped 400,000. Reports from electronic service providers also contained 61.8 million images, videos and other files tied to suspected child sexual exploitation incidents. South Carolina's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, operated through the Attorney General's Office, works with law enforcement statewide along with NCMEC and other state and federal agencies on cases like Regan's.
