Augusta teacher arrested for possessing child porn in Columbia County

Ryan Manley (CCSO mugshot)

Date: July 05, 2025

An Augusta teacher was jailed this week on charges of possessing child porn, according to Columbia County authorities.

Ryan Thomas Manley, 43, was formally charged Thursday with sexual exploitation of children, a felony. He is being held without bond at the Columbia County Detention Center, where jail officials confirm his listed occupation is a teacher and has a listed residence in Augusta.

Details of the crime were not immediately available beyond the allegations that he possessed child sexual abuse material, or child pornography, in Columbia County.

Ryan Manley posted this photo on his school profile page.

The Richmond County Board of Education currently has Manley listed as a 7th grade social studies teacher at Richmond Hill Middle School, and the suspect’s Facebook page also confirms that. On his social media page, he indicates that he is originally from Syracuse, New York, and went to Hilton Head High School in South Carolina before studying at American InterContinental University as well as the University of Phoenix.

(WGAC’s Austin Rhodes contributed to this breaking-news report.)

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The Author

Greg Rickabaugh is an award-winning crime reporter in the Augusta-Aiken area with experience writing for The Augusta Chronicle and serving as publisher of The Jail Report. He also owns AugustaCrime.com. Rickabaugh is a 1994 graduate of the University of South Carolina and has appeared on several crime documentaries on the Investigation Discovery channel. He is married with two daughters.

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