Two men charged in Myrtle Beach child sex trafficking investigation denied bond
Two men who live in the Myrtle Beach area will remain in federal custody after a judge said they pose a threat to the community. Investigators say the men had sexual encounters with an underage girl on camera and enabled her to be trafficked.
The men are part of a larger child sex trafficking investigation that led to the indictment of four men, all except one from the Myrtle Beach area.
A man in Arizona posed as a 17-year-old girl on Snapchat and manipulated a minor living in Myrtle Beach into believing they were in a relationship. Hart William Grow used a handler, Theodore Bye, who lived in Myrtle Beach to set the girl up with other men.
Men like Charles Spillane and Sanadin Elrayes, investigators say.
Bye posted ads on a website called FetLife, a social media network for people interested in BDSM, fetishism and kink. The ad said that a couple, Bye and the girl, was looking for a third sexual partner who was OK with BDSM. BDSM includes using bondage, discipline, dominance and submission during sexual activities.
The men agreed to the conditions, including that the sex had to be filmed and sent back to Hart via Snapchat.
The investigation into Spillane and Elrayes began after federal agents raided Bye’s residence and found videos and text messages between the men. They are charged with conspiracy to produce child pornography and conspiracy to coerce and exploit a minor.
The detention hearing
On Wednesday, Spillane and Elrayes appeared before Kay West, a federal judge, to ask for bond.
Elrayes’ lawyer Ben Hyman argued that the 28-year-old never held the camera during the filming and that Elrayes did not know that the victim was under 18.
Hyman told the judge that Elrayes had never tried to contact the victim after the sexual encounter. Elrayes is a veteran and lives in Surfside, where he has a fiance and child. His parents are business owners in the Myrtle Beach area and attended the bond hearing.
Spillane’s lawyer, Josh Edgeworth, made similar arguments about the victim’s age being unknown but had a higher hill to climb due to Spillane’s prior convictions. The 44-year-old has previous convictions for burglary, drug possession, weapons charges, disorderly conduct and terroristic threats.
Most of the convictions are more than 20 years old and from another state. He currently lives in Little River and owns an apartment in Myrtle Beach. The apartment, investigators with Homeland Security say, is where Spillane, Bye and the victim had sex.
Spillane’s fiance, who appeared in court, asked for him to be released on bond during the hearing. Elrayes’ parents did not speak but struggled to keep their composure in the courtroom.
Texts from both men to Bye use language like “split-roasting” and “slave,” words used in BDSM culture. Graphic details of the sexual encounter were read during the detention hearing by investigators and included in indictments.
Both men are on video engaged in sex with Bye and the victim, Yvette Thomas, a special agent with Homeland Security said. Thomas, who has 19 years of experience investigating child sex crimes, said there was reason to believe both men should have known the girl was underage.
Derek Shoemake, the federal prosecutor handling this case, said the evidence is “overwhelmingly strong.” He also cited Supreme Court rulings that said for both coercion and production of child pornography, it is not a defense that the accused thought a person was 18 years old.
Elrayes and Spillane face a maximum penalty of five years
This story was originally published August 25, 2021 at 2:41 PM.
