Charges mount in child sex case
Investigators said the North Carolina man accused of having sex with a 12-year-old Aiken County girl he seduced online faces a number of added sex charges and new allegations that he gave her drugs while visiting her in Aiken County, according to officials.
In addition to criminal solicitation of a minor, attempted criminal sexual conduct with a minor and committing a lewd act on a minor, Sampson Nimmo, 25, of 2420 Belvedere Ave. in Charlotte, is charged with four counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Allegations of abuse date back to April when the 25-year-old man began chatting with a 12-year-old Aiken County girl, official said.
In May, the 12-year-old victim's mother discovered that her daughter has been chatting online with Nimmo and that the two had met in person at least three times.
The woman went to the Aiken County Sheriff's Office with the allegations, and deputies referred the family to the local child advocacy center, where officials said the victim described one of the meetings with Nimmo and his attempt to engage her in sexual intercourse. Officials later learned that between April 1 and May 29, the man had sex with the girl, according to arrest warrants.
The investigator who launched the undercover online operation, Mark Patterson, was fired late last week after he was arrested at his Burnettown home for unlawful communication during a domestic argument with his wife; however, the investigation was completed by other investigators, and officials said they do not expect the matter to interfere with prosecution.
On Friday, Nimmo, in a Yahoo! chat room, agreed to meet with a deputy who was posing as the victim, according to arrest warrants.
He agreed to meet at a predetermined location on Friday evening, deputies said.
When the 25-year-old man arrived at the location, he was arrested.
Nimmo has been held at the Aiken County detention center since his arrest Friday. He was served with the additional warrants at the detention center.
The case is being prosecuted by the Attorney General's Office.
Contact Karen Daily at kdaily@aikenstandard.com.
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