Local man accused of distributing child porn
A Charleston man who plays the organ for a local church is accused of using a computer to distribute photos of himself fondling a toddler.
Charleston Police charged James Madison Prevatt II, 33, with second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and lewd act on a minor. He was in the Charleston County Detention Center Thursday on $100,000 bail.
Affidavits allege that Prevatt used a digital camera to take about 17 close-up photographs of a hand fondling a 19-month-old child. Authorities say he sent at least one photograph to his brother in Virginia.
Attorney Melissa Wines of the state attorney's general's office asked Charleston County Magistrate Linda Lombard to set a high bond because Prevatt doesn't have sufficient ties to the area and because there may be more charges pending, based on the amount of visual evidence seized from his home.
Brian Burke, Prevatt's attorney, said following a bond hearing Thursday that he has yet to see any of the evidence against his client but he understands that none of the photos show his client's face.
Burke asked Lombard for a low bond of about $10,000 because his client, a bookkeeper and an organist for the Northbridge Baptist Church in West Ashley, knew the charges were coming and didn't flee.
"No, sir," Lombard told Burke. "I don't think I've ever dealt with a child that young being fondled. And I'm very concerned about that."
She set bail at $50,000 on each charge and prohibited Prevatt from having access to the Internet or anyone under the age of 18. He faces a maximum prison sentence of 25 years if found guilty of the charges.
Authorities said the case has been bizarre and twisted from the beginning.
Charleston Police Investigator Douglas Gallucio said prior to the hearing that authorities have evidence Prevatt sent a photo to his brother, 25-year-old Michael Prevatt of York County, Va. His brother sent the same photo to a woman in Calgary, Alberta.
The woman, upset over the photo, told her therapist, who alerted the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Canadian authorities alerted the officials from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, who then contacted authorities in York County.
Gallucio said he received a call from York County investigators about 6:30 p.m. June 11. By 11 p.m., Charleston police, with a search warrant in hand, were inside James Prevatt's Peeks Pike home. Authorities seized four computers, two hard drives and other computer-related items, authorities said.
Forensic evidence shows that James Prevatt's hand is in the photograph, Gallucio said. He has no prior criminal history in South Carolina, according to a SLED check
Burke said Prevatt's brother pointed the finger at his client when he was caught with the photos in Virginia.
Michael Prevatt is charged in York County on four child pornography-related charges. He could face federal charges as well because the picture was sent across the border, Gallucio said.
