Man arrested for having more than 1,700 child porn images on his devices, officers say

CHARLEVOIX COUNTY – The Charlevoix County Sheriff’s Department said Thursday that Cameron Michael Matelski, 19, was arrested for having more than 1,700 child sexual abuse images on his electronic devices.

Officers said they received a tip from a social media company about an individual sharing child sexual abuse images on its social media platform. Officers identified the home from which the images were sent as a home in Charlevoix County, they said.

That home was searched and electronic devices taken, officers said. When these devices were examined, there were more than 1,700 images of child sexual abuse, including young children, plus videos and images featuring animals. County Attorney Kit Tholen said there were likely thousands more.

“Michigan law does not provide for any kind of enhanced penalty if you are over 100. So they received more than 17 times the maximum amount that the law looks at in Michigan,” Tholen said. “At that point we determined that they didn’t need to look for 1,800 or 6,000. If the trend had continued, it would have been somewhere in the neighborhood of 6,000.”

Ownership information from those devices was also obtained and linked to a resident of the home, who was identified as Matelski, deputies said.

Matelski has been arrested and charged with several counts of child sexual abuse, aggravated possession of child sexual abuse material and using a computer to commit a crime.