Manning man arrested in predator sting

Columbia - Attorney General Henry McMaster announced Friday that William Mathis Ardis, 27, of Manning, was arrested on Thursday, March 11, in an undercover Internet sting conducted by the Attorney General’s Office.
The Attorney General directs the state’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. The Clarendon County Sheriff’s Office, a member of the Attorney General’s Task Force, assisted in the arrest.

Ardis was arrested on one count of criminal solicitation of a minor, a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment and one count of dissemination of obscene material to a minor, a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment.

Arrest warrants allege that beginning on Jan. 6, 2010, Ardis solicited sex on the Internet from an individual he believed to be a minor girl. In reality, he was communicating with an undercover investigator for the Attorney General’s Office.

A search warrant was executed on Ardis’ residence, and one laptop computer, one floppy disc, and one flash drive were seized. The City of Orangeburg Department of Public Safety (also a member of the Task Force) assisted with the case.

At press time, Ardis’ bond status was unknown.

According to Clarendon County Detention Center Director Shelton Hughes, Ardis was briefly held in Clarendon County under an Attorney Generals Office detainer. Hughes said Ardis was picked up by officials from the AG’s office on Friday and Hughes was unaware of where Ardis was taken.

“He did not have a bond hearing while in our custody,” Hughes said.

Calls to the AG’s office were not returned on Monday.

This is the 188th arrest for the Task Force.

The case will be prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office.

McMaster stressed that all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in a court of law.