He raped a 4-year-old boy, recorded it and sent the video to a woman, SC prosecutors say

A South Carolina man will spend the rest of his life in prison after being convicted of raping a 4-year-old boy and filming the act, according to court officials.

A Pickens County jury on Tuesday convicted Aaron Benjamin Beach, 32, on charges of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor and first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, according to a release from the 13th Circuit Solicitor’s Office. Circuit Court Judge Roger Couch sentenced Beach to life in prison, and he will not be eligible for parole.

Evidence presented by prosecutors at trial showed that Beach sexually assaulted the 4-year-old victim at a home in Easley from July 4-5, 2016.

Beach recorded the acts on video and took pictures of the boy depicting the child “in a sexually explicit activity,” prosecutors said. He then sent those videos and photos to a woman in Virginia, who contacted police.

Investigators with the Virginia State Police and Easley Police Department investigated the case.

“This extensive sentence will send the message that child predators and their deviant actions will not be tolerated in our communities,” Solicitor Walt Wilkins said. “We will continue to aggressively prosecute these cases and protect all children from this most selfish crime.”

The life sentence imposed upon Beach was the maximum allowed under South Carolina law for first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor.

This story was originally published March 20, 2019 at 9:42 AM.