Columbia, SC 02/27/2025 - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the arrest of Timothy Mark Mccullough (age 68), of West Columbia, S.C., and John Anthony Kayton (age 50), of Lexington, S.C., on six total charges connected to the sexual exploitation of minors. Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigators with the Lexington County Sheriff's Department made the arrests in these unrelated cases. Investigators with the South Carolina Attorney General's Office, also a member of the state's ICAC Task Force, assisted with these investigations.
Investigators received a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) which led them to Mccullough and Kayton. Investigators state Mccullough and Kayton both possessed files of child sexual abuse material.
Mccullough was arrested on February 26, 2025. He is charged with five counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, third degree (§16-15-410), a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment on each count.
Kayton was arrested on February 26, 2025. He is charged with one count of sexual exploitation of a minor, third degree (§16-15-410), a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment.
Both of these cases will be prosecuted by the Attorney General's Office.
Attorney General Wilson stressed all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in a court of law.
* Child sexual abuse material, or CSAM, is a more accurate reflection of the material involved in these heinous and abusive crimes. "Pornography" can imply the child was a consenting participant. Globally, the term child pornography is being replaced by CSAM for this reason.
PHOTO: John Anthony Kayton (age 50)
PHOTO: Timothy Mark Mccullough (age 68)
