Wadmalaw Island man convicted of sexual exploitation of minors

CHARLESTON COUNTY, SC (WCSC) – A Charleston County man learned how long he will have to spend in prison after a jury found him guilty of possessing tens of thousands of files containing child sexual abuse material.

Michael Allen Bentz, 35, pleaded guilty last week to third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, Attorney General's Office spokesman Robert Kittle said.

Judge McCoy sentenced Bentz to ten years in prison, with credit for time already served.

In April 2021, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reported that a user of a messaging platform had uploaded files containing child sexual abuse material to its platform.

Information about the subscriber led investigators to Bentz's home on Wadmalaw Island in Charleston County.

Officers with the Charleston County Sheriff's Office executed a search warrant on February 2, 2022. During the search, Bentz admitted to being responsible for the child sexual abuse material, and officers found tens of thousands of other files on the subject, Kittle said.

The term “child sexual abuse material” is used by prosecutors instead of child pornography because of concerns that “pornography” may give the impression that the child consented to participate in the incidents.

Kittle said Bentz lost his electronic devices and will have to register as a sex offender upon his release.

Assistant Attorney General Stephan Ryan prosecuted the case for the state, and Investigator Jason Bowen of the Charleston County Sheriff's Office investigated the case.

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