Kevin Phillip Hedgpeth, 48, City of Hanahan Mayor Pro Tem and member of City Council, has been charged with possession and production of child sexual abuse material.

According to a criminal complaint and arrest warrant unsealed today, Hedgpeth has been identified as a member of a forum on social media that was facilitating the sale of child sexual abuse material.

Further investigation revealed that Hedgpeth has paid numerous minors who have been identified as likely victims of child sex abuse in CyberTips submitted to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. From December 2021 to present, Hedgpeth’s Cash App and PayPal accounts paid 47 accounts that were either associated with minors or suspected of selling content. The accounts Hedgpeth paid include minors in the Charleston, South Carolina area.

Further investigation revealed that videos and images depicting child sexual abuse were stored in an iCloud account registered to Hedgpeth’s personal e-mail address, his cellular phone, and his home address, and that the account had been accessed frequently from his home internet router. Hedgpeth used his iCloud account and social media to communicate with children, to direct them to produce sexually explicit photographs and videos, and to send these videos to him in exchange for money.

Hedgpeth faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years in federal prison, a maximum of 30 years, lifetime supervision by the U.S. Probation Office, plus sex offender registration requirements.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Investigators are seeking the public’s help to identify possible victims. If you have relevant information to report, please contact HSI at Charleston_exploitationtips@hsi.dhs.gov, by telephone at 866-DHS-2-ICE (866-347-2423), or through the online tip form at https://www.ice.gov/webform/ice-tip-form.

Related Federal Cases

Kevin Hedgpeth, Child Sex Abuse Material Production and Possession, South Carolina 2023 · South Carolina
Richard Wallace Heald III, Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material, South Carolina 2023 · South Carolina
John Edward Prigmore, Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material, South Carolina 2023 · South Carolina
Nate Eli Kurzak, Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material, North Carolina 2023 · Connecticut
Kevin Ray Stephenson, Possession of Child Pornography, South Carolina 2024 · South Carolina