Columbia Man Faces Federal Child Pornography Charges

COLUMBIA, SC—United States Attorney W. Walter Wilkins stated today that Gregory Alan Hayes, age 46, of Columbia, was charged in a two-count superseding indictment with violations of federal child pornography laws. Hayes was indicted for receiving child pornography and for intentionally accessing child pornography on the Internet.

Hayes faces enhanced penalties of 15 to 40 years' imprisonment on the receipt charge and 10 to 20 years' on the accessing charge. Additionally he faces fines of $250,000 and lifetime supervised release on each count.

This case was investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Dean A. Eichelberger of the Columbia office for prosecution.

This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov. The United States Attorney stated that the charges contained in the Superseding indictment are merely accusations, and that all defendants are innocent until proven guilty.