Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (c)
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Mohammad Ebrahim Torki Harchegani, 38, has been charged with attempted enticement of a minor for sexual activity.
During a contested bond hearing, an FBI special agent testified that on Dec. 3-4, 2024, multiple agencies participated in an online chat operation targeting child sex offenders where an officer posed as a 14-year-old female. Torki, a legal permanent resident of the United States and Iranian citizen, engaged in sexually explicit conversations with the alleged 14-year-old girl. Torki ultimately traveled to the residence where he believed the girl was home alone to engage in sexual activities with her. He was arrested thereafter.
Testimony was also presented that Torki was a researcher at the University of South Carolina at the time of the chat. Upon his arrest, his employment was suspended and his contract with the university was not renewed.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the U.S. Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc.
Torki was ordered detained at the hearing. He faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.
The FBI Columbia Field Office, the South Carolina Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and the Richland County Sheriff’s Department participated in the online chat operation and investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elle E. Klein and Winston Holliday are prosecuting the case.
All charges in the indictment are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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