Horry County man charged for sending sexually explicit photo of a child on Snapchat

A man from Myrtle Beach has been arrested on child sexual abuse material charges, according to a press release from the South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson.

Lee Grant Cook, 30, “was arrested on June 29, 2022. He is charged with nine counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, second degree ..., a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment on each count,” read the release.

According to an arrest warrant, on Sept. 8, 2021, “while knowing the character or content of the material distributed, exchanged or received material that contained a visual representation of a minor engaged in sexual activity or appearing in the state of sexually explicit nudity when a reasonable person would infer the purpose of being sexual stimulation.”

The warrant goes on to state that the sexually explicit material was disseminated on Snapchat.

Robert Kittle, communication director for the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office, explained that Cook’s charges mean he is accused of distributing that material. The charges do not infer that he ever hurt a minor physically. If he had, those would be different or additional charges, Kittle said.

According to Kittle, there are three degrees of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor.

The third degree is possession of such material. The second degree means one is charged with distributing such material. Lastly, first degree means that one essentially creating such material.

“Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force and investigators with the Horry County Sheriff’s Office made the arrest. Investigators with the Attorney General’s Office, also a member of the state’s ICAC Task Force, assisted with this investigation,” read the release. “Investigators received a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) which led them to Cook. Investigators state Cook distributed files of child sexual abuse material.”

Wilson said in the press release that he stresses that all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in a court of law.