Attorney General Alan Wilson announced that Douglas Bishop pleaded guilty Tuesday to two counts of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor, Second Degree, and one count of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor, Third Degree, in Union County.
On November 28, 2017, Investigator Kevin Atkins with the Attorney General’s Office Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force conducted an investigation into the use of an online file sharing program for the sharing and distribution of child sexual abuse material. Inv. Atkins found one user sharing numerous files that violated South Carolina state law. After an investigation, Inv. Atkins obtained a search warrant for a residence in Union County and the warrant was executed on December 20, 2017.
Bishop lived in a basement/garage apartment and was identified by the other residents as a registered sex offender. A computer located in the bedroom was examined and image and video files of child sexual abuse material were located on an attached external hard drive. At that time, law enforcement traveled to Bishop’s place of business but he had fled the shop after learning that law enforcement had arrived at the home. He was ultimately located out of state and returned to South Carolina for prosecution in December of 2020. A forensic examination of the computer-related items seized in this case revealed that Bishop had over 56,000 images and 182 videos of child pornography.
Judge Mark Hayes sentenced Bishop to 10 years on all charges, to be served concurrently. He received credit for 350 days time served. He will have to continue to register as a sex offender and he forfeited his seized devices.