Columbia man arrested in Beaufort sting targeting internet sex crimes against children
A Columbia, South Carolina, man is the latest arrest in a multi-agency sting operation in search of predators who target underage children, according to the Beaufort Police Department.
Tony Hoover, 54, was charged Tuesday night with criminal solicitation of a minor, sexual exploitation of a minor in the first degree and disseminating obscene material to a minor, jail records show.
The charges stem from an online conversation that occurred in March. Messaging with a person who Hoover thought to be a 14-year-old girl, Hoover sent and asked for sexually explicit photos, according to Lt. Charles Raley, a spokesperson for the Beaufort Police Department.
But Hoover was actually messaging with an undercover police officer, as a part of “Operation Rock the Boat,” a joint effort between local law enforcement agencies and the Attorney General’s Internet Crimes Against Children task force.
The operation involved undercover police officers posing as children online, leading multiple individuals to have explicit conversations with people they believed to be minors.
As part of the operation, four people traveled to Beaufort with the intent of having sex with minors between the ages of 12 and 14, according to previous reporting from the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
Hoover was released Wednesday morning from the Beaufort County Detention Center on a $20,000 bond.
This story was originally published October 19, 2022 at 4:13 PM.
