On February 25, 2021 in Charlotte, NC Ted Melton, 46, was sentenced to 365 months in prison on child pornography charges. Ted was also ordered to register as a sex offender and to serve the rest of his life under court supervision after he is released from prison.
On October 21, 2020, Ted pleaded guilty to production of child pornography and possession with intent to view child pornography containing a minor who had not attained 12 years of age.
According to evidence and statements made in court, in February 2015, officers with the Internet Crimes Against Children task force in Iredell County, NC determined that an individual later identified as Ted was using a peer-to-peer file sharing program to distribute child pornography.
So in June 2015 law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Ted’s residence and seized his computers, a camera and a cell phone. Over the course of the investigation law enforcement determined that Ted had also sexually abused two minor females and had produced child pornography.
A forensic analysis of Ted’s devices revealed that he possessed more than 18,000 images and 850 videos containing sexually explicit conduct involving children, including the child victims Ted had sexually assaulted.
Ted was arrested on state charges in 2015. He was transferred to federal custody in November 2019 upon his indictment on federal charges.
