Summerville Man Arrested on Child Pornography Charges

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) - Feb. 15, 2019 - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the arrest of Mark Leonard Melcher (age 67) of  Summerville, SC, on 20 charges connected to the sexual exploitation of a minor.  Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigators with the Summerville Police Department made the arrest.  Investigators with the Attorney General's Office and Dorchester County Sheriff's Office, both also members of the state's ICAC Task Force, assisted with the investigation and arrest.

Investigators received a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) which led them to Melcher. Investigators state Melcher possessed multiple files of child pornography.  

Melcher was arrested on February 13, 2019.  He is charged with 20 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, third degree (§16-15-410), a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment on each count.

The case will be prosecuted by the Attorney General's Office.

Attorney General Wilson stressed all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in a court of law.