Illinois man sentenced to prison for sending sexually explicit texts to 12-year-old in SC

SC Attorney General’s Office

Photo: SC Attorney General's Office

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO)– An Illinois man is going to prison for sending sexually explicit texts to a 12-year-old in South Carolina, said the AG’s Office.

Officials with the Attorney General’s Office say on May 11, 2018, Richland County Deputies responded to a home where a parent found texts on her child’s cell phone.

Investigators say they determined the child had met Alberto Mercado online and exchanged numbers.

Officials say once Mercado realized he was talking to a child he began sending sexually explicit messages, some of which included photos with his face in them.

Mercado pled guilty to dissemination of obscene material to a person under the age of 12, criminal solicitation of a minor, and sexual exploitation of a minor on Tuesday in Richland County.

He was sentenced to eight years in prison.