CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A registered sex offender has been charged for child exploitation after evidence was found at his residence Thursday, CMPD says.
An investigation was initiated after the police department received a tip on April 9 that child pornography had been shared electronically. According to a news release, through an investigation the suspect was identified as 56-year-old Robert Byam.
On Thursday, April 23, CMPD executed a search warrant on Byam’s residence on Karendale Avenue in west Charlotte. As a result of the investigation, Byam was arrested and charged with five counts of 3rd Degree Sexual Exploitation of a Minor, police say.
Byam was registered as a sex offender stemming from a 2004 Possession of Child Pornography conviction in Massachusetts. Byam was also convicted in 2017 in Mecklenburg County for multiple counts of taking indecent liberties with children, according to CMPD. As a result of that conviction, he was on probation at the time of his arrest and is registered as a recidivist sex offender in Mecklenburg County.
According to a news release, following the CMPD’s Cyber Crimes Unit arrest of Byam, North Carolina Probation and Parole officers have also charged him with a probation violation.
CMPD is continuing to investigate whether additional crimes involving Byam have occurred. The public is asked to contact Detective Dunbar at adunbar@cmpd.org or 704-336-8371 if they have further information regarding Byam.
Anyone with information about this incident can also contact Crime Stoppers anonymously at 704-334-1600 or visit the Crime Stoppers website at http://charlottecrimestoppers.com/.
