A 32-year-old North Charleston man was arrested Tuesday and charged with one count of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, following an investigation by a regional task force dedicated to internet crimes against children. Connor Burslem now faces a felony charge that carries up to ten years in prison if he is convicted.
According to Live 5 News, Burslem was arrested by Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force investigators with the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office. The outlet reports that investigators stated Burslem possessed files of child sexual abuse material, and that the case will be prosecuted by the state Attorney General’s Office rather than local prosecutors.
What the Charge Carries
Third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor is a felony under South Carolina law. Per the statute cited by Justia’s South Carolina Code § 16-15-410, a person convicted of the offense must be imprisoned for no more than ten years. The charge against Burslem is an allegation at this stage, and no further case details, such as a plea or court date, have been made public.
The arrest comes about a week after another North Charleston case made headlines. On Oct. 26, the same station reported that 46-year-old Daniel Paul Van Nostrand of North Charleston was charged with two counts of first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, a more serious tier of the same statute involving allegations of producing child sex abuse material.
A Statewide Rise in Cyber Tips
Task force investigations like the one that led to Burslem’s arrest often begin with cyber tips flagging suspected child sexual abuse material online. The Attorney General’s Office reported that statewide cyber tips related to crimes against children rose from 9,778 in 2023 to 11,469 in 2024, the Lexington County Chronicle notes.
That same local tracking tells a more complicated story at the county level. In Lexington County specifically, investigators received 94 cyber tips and made 28 arrests in 2023, compared with 74 tips and 16 arrests in 2024, the paper reported, with just 15 tips and five arrests logged through early February 2025.
Other recent arrests show the pattern playing out elsewhere in the state. In Batesburg-Leesville, 38-year-old Jake Brady Ergle was arrested in January 2025 on one count of sexual exploitation of a minor. And in a case reported by WYFF, the Attorney General’s Office said a CyberTip led investigators to arrest and charge 41-year-old Thomas Mouyer Renrick IV with one count of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor in August.
No additional details about Burslem’s case, including any attorney representation or scheduled court appearance, have been released.
