SC photographer mingled with politicians, athletes, teens before sex crime charges
Before being charged with child sex crimes, a Blythewood-based photographer worked with high school sports teams and cheerleading squads and mingled with prominent state politicians and former Gamecock athletes.
Gregg Martin, owner of a photography business and photo booth provider called Giffypics.com, got gigs with Colonial Life Arena to document concerts, worked on the sidelines of University of South Carolina football games, shot charity events and even provided photography for the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, the agency that arrested him in April and May.
Martin’s photography shows he interacted with a wide range of people, community groups and activities.
In April, the sheriff’s department charged Martin with engaging a child under 18 for sexual performance and unlawful conduct toward a child.
Deputies received a “report of him taking inappropriate photographs of a young girl under his care,” the department said. “The investigation revealed that Martin groomed the child and gave her illegal substances.”
The department asked for any other victims to come forward after Martin’s arrest.
Friday, the department charged Martin with 10 more offenses, including criminal sexual conduct, exploitation of minors, kidnapping and promoting prostitution.
Martin’s attorney, Alex Postic, said that Martin “remains an innocent man with a successful business and a strong and supportive family.”
“We are confident that in time this matter will be resolved favorably and with much less fanfare than his arrest brought,” Postic said. “We would ask the community to respect the privacy of Mr. Martin and his family.”
After Martin’s Friday arrest, the department said that deputies discovered “disturbing details about Martin’s encounters with the child and other victims.”
Martin faces the possibility of more than 100 years in prison if found guilty.
Political events
Martin’s websites and social media accounts reveal that he socialized with South Carolina politicians with his cameras.
In March, Martin photographed a campaign event of Herschel Walker, the former University of Georgia running back who is a U.S. Senate candidate in Georgia. The month before, former SC governor and ex-United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley had endorsed Walker’s campaign.
“Had a great time with former Governor and US UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and Herschel Walker last night in Marietta, Georgia,” Martin posted on social media after the event. “She is so inspiring and smart. And Herschel will win this Senate seat!”
Martin posted a photo of himself taking a selfie with Haley and Walker.
During the same month as the Walker event, Martin sexually abused at least one person, according to police.
Richland County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Maj. Maria Yturria said the incidents that led to the sex crime charges occurred between August and December 2019 and February and March 2022.
The Herschel Walker campaign said people with the campaign “do not know Martin” and noted that Martin “has not been paid by our campaign.”
“We have thousands of people show up to our events,” the campaign said. “This is deeply disturbing. He won’t be around Herschel’s campaign again.”
Martin also photographed a Fellowship of Christian Athletes “celebration dinner” that Walker and Gov. Henry McMaster attended, according to a picture on the photographer’s website. The website doesn’t make clear when the event was held.
Martin took a photo of McMaster with his wife, Peggy, Walker and two others in front of a Fellowship of Christian Athletes backdrop.
“The Fellowship of Christian Athletes is aware of the current situation in South Carolina,” the FCA said in a statement issued Thursday. “The individual involved has not been associated with FCA as an employee or volunteer. Due to legal proceedings, we cannot comment further. FCA has continued to maintain the highest standards of morality and personal conduct for over 68 years.
At another event Martin worked in 2017, he had a photo taken of himself with McMaster.
“I’m moving on up...me and Governor McMaster,” Martin posted with the photo.
Brian Symmes, a spokesman for McMaster, said, “The governor spent many years as a prosecutor putting people behind bars for charges like the ones involved in this case. (McMaster is) invited to events every day and has his picture taken with dozens of people at each one. This certainly isn’t going to stop him from meeting with South Carolinians and taking a picture with them when they ask.”
Martin was enlisted to take portraits of Blythewood Town Council members. Blythewood Mayor Bryan Franklin told The State that he personally took Martin’s photos of the council members off the town hall’s wall “as soon as the first reports broke about Martin and his alleged atrocities.”
“We’re absolutely disgusted by these allegations,” Franklin said. “It infuriates all of us.”
On his social media posts, Martin says he is a Christian and Republican Party supporter. He supports conservative stances and posts Bible verses regularly.
At the top of Martin’s Twitter account, he quotes Philippians 4:13. “I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me,” it says.
Crush Rush, a South Carolina photographer who worked at least one of the same events as Martin, said that Martin was one of the few photographers in the Midlands that he “didn’t connect with.”
“There was always something outside of his politics,” Rush said. “There was always something about him that I could not put my finger on. I just felt like there was something more sinister about him.”
Regular around Richland County
Martin frequently photographed high school sports teams and cheerleading squads. He also shot high school senior portraits.
On his website, he posted more than a dozen high school seniors’ portraits he shot.
In May 2018, he offered to take prom photos for anyone who showed up at a park in Blythewood.
He photographed the Blythewood High School cheerleading squad in 2020, according to his website. The State has reached out to Richland District 2.
In 2018 and 2021, he photographed girls on the Chapin High School cheerleading squad at the request of their parents, according to Lexington-Richland School District 5.
The school district, Chapin High School or its athletics booster club “never hired (Martin) to take any pictures for Chapin Cheerleading,” a district spokesperson said.
He shot Swansea High School’s 2020 graduation. The State has reached out to Lexington District 4.
Martin’s various websites show that he was a high school sports fan and supporter. He allowed free use of his photos of some high school teams.
On his websites, he posted dozens of shots of high school football, soccer, lacrosse and other teams, gaining him praise from parents, players and coaches.
Two Blythewood High School coaches thanked Martin for taking photos of the team in 2018.
“Big shout out to you (Gregg Martin),” a former Blythewood football coach posted on Twitter in 2018, “and the awesome job you did the entire spring.”
Martin did a shoot for a Richland County deputy and his family that was posted on Martin’s website.
He was on the sidelines of Gamecock football games, including the team’s upset of No. 1 Alabama in 2010 and a win over Akron in 2018. His connection to Gamecock football didn’t end on the field.
He did photo shoots for the family of George Rogers, USC’s 1980 Heisman Trophy winner. He also did a shoot for the family of former Gamecock quarterback Jake Bentley, whose father, Bobby, was an assistant coach for the football team. The State has reached out to the George Rogers Foundation.
“Shout out to (Gregg Martin) for the great family pics,” a member of the Bentley’s family posted on social media in March 2018.
Bentley’s family and his training camps have “no personal affiliation with Gregg Martin,” Bobby Bentley told The State.
Martin was at Bobby Bentley’s quarterback training session years ago because one of Martin’s relatives was participating, Bentley said. Like other parents, Martin took photos. Martin volunteered the use of his photos to the camp.
Martin was later asked to do the Bentley family photos on a client-and-business basis.
“He’s probably taken hundreds of families’ photos,” Bobby Bentley said. “We hired him because he was a local photographer in Columbia.”
Martin photographed quarterback training camps for young players led by Jake Bentley and fellow former USC quarterbacks Stephen Garcia, Perry Orth and Connor Shaw.
One of Martin’s prominent clients was USC’s Colonial Life Arena, which hired him to photograph concerts from 2017 to 2020, where he had backstage access and close-stage views that regular ticket buyers couldn’t get. He photographed Carrie Underwood, Elton John, KISS, The Foo Fighters and Hootie and the Blowfish, among others.
He photographed Hootie and the Blowfish in September 2019, a social media post showed. It was around that time of the year that he committed some of the crimes, according to deputies.
University of South Carolina spokesman Jeff Stensland said that the “last time (Martin) shot at the Colonial Life Arena was prior to the pandemic.”
“We were unaware of any allegations against him until the recent media reports detailing the charges,” Stensland said.
Charities tapped Martin for photography as well. He posted about providing photography services for an event sponsored by the Tim Tebow Foundation, Make-A-Wish SC, the George Rogers Foundation and the Richland County Sheriff’s Foundation, which raises money for the sheriff’s department.
At the latter event in 2019, Martin took a photo with Richland County deputies who were then on the police live action show Live PD. He took one with Sheriff Leon Lott, the two standing side by side, smiling at the camera while Martin jovially points to Lott.
“Regardless of someone’s relationship with the Sheriff’s Department, if they break the law they will be held accountable and arrested,” Lott told The State after being informed of the photos.
Case moving forward
After both of Martin’s arrests, deputies jailed him at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, where he was released on bond, according to court and jail records. He was released on $200,000 bond after his Friday arrest.
Deputy Solicitor April Sampson of the Fifth Circuit Solicitor’s Office is prosecuting Martin’s case, court records said.
Martin has a court appearance scheduled for May 27, according to records.
This story was originally published May 12, 2022 at 12:19 PM.