A 23-year-old Mount Pleasant social media influencer was arrested September 10 on six felony charges related to the sexual exploitation of minors and has since been released on $1 million bond.
Carson Dean Barry faces five counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of criminal solicitation of a minor, according to South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson. Each charge is a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force investigators with the Mount Pleasant Police Department made the arrest. Investigators from the Attorney General’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations, the Summerville Police Department and the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office assisted. All are members of the state’s ICAC Task Force.
Investigators received a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that led them to Barry. They state he solicited a minor for sex and possessed files of child sexual abuse material.
Authorities searched Barry’s home and seized a computer tower and two iPhones. On one of the phones, investigators found a 12-second video of a female child between the ages of 2 and 4 being sexually assaulted by an adult man. Affidavits indicate the footage was last accessed in early August. Investigators linked the phone to Barry through an iCloud account registered to his Gmail and other accounts bearing his name.
Barry was booked into the Al Cannon Detention Center in Charleston County. He posted a total bond of $1 million—$150,000 on each of the five sexual exploitation counts and $250,000 on the solicitation charge—and was released September 13.
Barry has built a substantial following as a content creator. His TikTok accounts, including @icarsonlocked, have more than 420,000 followers, and he maintains nearly 150,000 followers on Instagram under @carson.barryyy. He has also promoted an OnlyFans account.
The Attorney General’s Office will prosecute the case. Wilson noted that all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
The investigation remains ongoing.
