South Carolina Man Indicted on Child Abuse Material Charges

A federal grand jury in Columbia, South Carolina, has indicted Richard Channing Shealy, a 54-year-old former pastor from Lexington, on charges related to child sexual abuse material. The nine-count indictment accuses Shealy of producing, distributing, and possessing child sexual abuse material, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The indictment alleges that in February 2026, Shealy shared files containing child sexual abuse material with an undercover agent from Homeland Security Investigations using a peer-to-peer file-sharing network. Following this, law enforcement officials obtained a search warrant and searched Shealy's home, where they discovered additional files on his computer. Among these files were images of a child that Shealy allegedly abused in 2004 and 2006.

Shealy faces severe penalties if convicted. The charges include four counts of producing child sexual abuse material, each carrying a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison. Additionally, Shealy faces up to 20 years in federal prison for the distribution and possession charges. He also faces fines of up to $250,000 on each count.

This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. The project aims to marshal federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.

The investigation into Shealy's activities was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations, the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office, and the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Matthews is prosecuting the case.

All charges in the indictment are allegations at this stage, and Shealy is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.