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A Midlands man was arrested for sex crimes, including one that targeted a child, according to the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office.
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Joseph Peter Salerno IV, a 23-year-old Camden resident, was arrested Sept. 8 when he was charged with third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and dissemination of obscene material to a person under 18, the S.C. Attorney General’s Office said in a news release.
Investigators received a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children which led them to Salerno, according to the release. Investigators said that Salerno possessed files of child sexual abuse material — aka child pornography — and sent sexually explicit images to a minor, the S.C. Attorney General’s Office said.
Information about how Salerno got in contact with the child, and the minor’s condition following the incident, was not available.
A $15,000 bond was set for each of the charges, and was posted the same day Salerno was taken into custody, Kershaw County court records show. Salerno is not included on the current inmate roster at Kershaw County Detention Center.
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Salerno will be prosecuted by the S.C. Attorney General’s Office.
If convicted on the felony charges, Salerno faces a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison on each count, according to the release.
Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force investigators and deputies with the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office made the arrest. Investigators with the S.C. Attorney General’s Office assisted with the investigation.
Salerno is not currently listed on either the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office or South Carolina Law Enforcement Division’s sex offender registries.
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