Mt. Pleasant Predator: Carter Gets 36 Months for Child Porn

CHARLESTON, SC – Chandler Carter, 60, of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, will spend the next three years in federal prison after being sentenced yesterday for the vile act of possessing child pornography. U.S. District Judge Richard M. Gergel handed down a 36-month sentence, followed by a lifetime of supervised release, in Charleston federal court.

The sentence isn’t just about bars, though. Carter’s post-release life will be a tightly controlled landscape. He’s mandated to undergo sex offender treatment, register as a sex offender – permanently branding him – participate in relentless computer monitoring, avoid unsupervised contact with minors, and submit to random polygraph examinations. This isn’t rehabilitation; it’s damage control.

The investigation began with a tip from across the pond. Authorities in Kent, England, alerted U.S. agents to Carter’s disturbing online activity. He’d been emailing an undercover officer, brazenly expressing interest in trading child pornography. That digital trail led directly to his Mount Pleasant residence, triggering a federal search warrant executed on September 2, 2015.

What agents found was sickening. Two laptops and four thumb drives seized from Carter’s home contained approximately 25 videos and 80 images depicting prepubescent girls engaged in sexual acts with adult men. The forensic evidence didn’t lie. At the conclusion of the search, Carter confessed to both possessing and actively trading in this horrific material.

The case was spearheaded by agents with ICE – Homeland Security Investigations, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Rhett DeHart of the Charleston office leading the prosecution. This wasn’t an isolated incident, however. It was part of “Project Safe Childhood,” a nationwide initiative aimed at dismantling online child exploitation networks and rescuing victims. This operation pulls together federal, state, and local resources, proving that these predators will be hunted.

Project Safe Childhood, available at www.projectsafechildhood.gov, serves as a stark reminder that the fight against online child abuse is ongoing. While Carter is behind bars, the work to protect vulnerable children continues. Anyone with information regarding suspected child exploitation is urged to contact authorities immediately. Contact Rhett DeHart at (843) 266-1672 with any relevant leads.