Michigan man, 81, accused of superimposing children's pictures on pornographic images
An Oakland County man faces multiple charges relating to thousands of images of children found superimposed on pornographic images, the Oakland County (Michigan) Sheriff's Office reported.
James Lawrence Meloche, 81, of Clarkston, was arraigned Wednesday in 52nd District Court-Second Division on three counts each of child sexually abusive activity, using a computer to commit a crime and possession of child sexually abusive activity, the press release said.
He is being held in the Oakland County Jail.
"Anything involving child sexually abusive activity we take extremely seriously and fully investigate to hold the responsible person accountable to the full extent of the law," Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said.
The arrest happened Tuesday in Independence Township, following up on a lengthy investigation by Oakland County's detectives and Computer Crimes Unit.
A stack of papers belonging to Meloche was discovered Oct. 11, 2023, the day after a meeting of the Village of Clarkston Historic District Commission took place at village hall. At the time, Melochose was the chair of the commission. He is no longer on that board, with city records showing he submitted his resignation in November 2023.
"The papers included extra copies of the meeting agenda, personal emails with Meloche's name on them and several pornographic images or materials. The images were sexual in nature and included images of children," the report said.
Detectives obtained a search warrant and confiscated Meloche's cell phone, several computers, CDs and a camera, among other items.
"The investigation of the electronic and storage devices took many months as investigators sifted through thousands of images and devices. It uncovered more than a thousand images in which pictures of minor children were superimposed on a pornographic image. A sexually explicit caption or description of what was being displayed was often written on the finished image," the report said.
Detectives were able to determine the identity of three of the minors portrayed in the images.
The investigation was ultimately presented to prosecutors, who issued charges Tuesday.
