Pickens County Man Sentenced for Child Sex Abuse

A Pickens County man will spend 12 years in prison for committing lewd acts on a child, 13th Circuit Solicitor Walt Wilkins said Wednesday.

Edgar B Merrifield, 64, of Liberty was sentenced Wednesday by Judge George C. James after being convicted by a Pickens County jury on charges of committing or attempting a lewd act on a child under 16 years of age, Wilkins said.

Based on evidence presented at trial, Merrifield was found guilty of touching a male child on his genitals and buttocks on numerous occasions between October 2007 and April 2010, Wilkins said.

The child was between the ages of five and eight at the times of the abuse, Wilkins added.