Staff reports
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced in a media release the arrest of Gordon C. Fritz, 82, of Lady’s Island on one charge connected to the sexual exploitation of minors.
Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigators with the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office made the arrest. Investigators with the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations, both also members of the state’s ICAC Task Force, assisted with this investigation.
According to the release, investigators received a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) which led them to Fritz. Investigators state Fritz distributed files of child sexual abuse material.
Fritz was arrested on July 9, 2026, and was released from the Beaufort County Detention Center on a $25,000 surety bond just after noon on Tuesday, July 14. He is charged with one count of sexual exploitation of a minor, second degree (§16-15-405), a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment. His bond has been set at $25,000.
The case will be prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office.
Attorney General Wilson stressed all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in a court of law.
Child sexual abuse material (CSAM), a term now commonly used instead of “pornography, is a more accurate reflection of the material involved in these crimes. “Pornography” can imply the child was a consenting participant. Globally, the term child pornography is being replaced by CSAM for this reason.