Lexington man gets prison sentence for child sex abuse material

Prosecutors say a 61-year-old Lexington man will spend nearly seven years in federal prison after pleading guilty to possession of child sexual abuse material.

Timothy Stedman Sloan, 61, of Lexington, possessed more than 100 images and/or videos of child sexual abuse material, including images of toddlers and prepubescent minors, according to Bryan P. Stirling, the U.S. attorney for the District of South Carolina.

Sloan joined social media groups where he would discuss grooming and sexually abusing children, Stirling’s office said in a news release on Tuesday, Oct. 20.

U.S. District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis sentenced Sloan to 81 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by a 15-year term of court-ordered supervision, along with fines and $25,000 in restitution to the victims in this case.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Federal statutes describe the illicit photographs and videos as child pornography. Prosecutors use the phrase “child sexual abuse material,” or CSAM, because it “better reflects the abuse that is depicted in the images and videos and the resulting trauma to the child,” according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.

Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit Justice.gov/PSC.

This case was investigated by the FBI Columbia Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elle E. Klein prosecuted the case.