South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster

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Today's News from the Office of the Attorney General

Bamberg Couple Arrested in Child Pornography Case

Attorney General Henry McMaster announced today that Grady Bernard Ponds, 41, and Rhonda Jean Ponds, 40, both of 71 Society Street in Bamberg, South Carolina, were arrested on July 27, 2010, by the Attorney General’s Office on charges of child pornography.

The Attorney General directs the state’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.

The Ponds are each charged with one (1) count of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor (§16-15-410), 3rd Degree, a felony offense punishable to ten (10) years imprisonment.

The Ponds are charged with possessing digital images depicting children engaged in sex acts. A computer belonging to the couple was seized and taken to the Attorney General’s Office for forensic examination. Files containing the pornographic images were found on that device.

The City of Orangeburg Police Department (also a Task Force member) and the Bamberg County Sheriff’s Office assisted in the case.

Booking photos are available through the Bamberg County Detention Center.

The case will be prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office.

McMaster stressed that all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in a court of law.

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