Authorities: Convicted Sex Offender Arrested Again For Child Exploitation Charges

BELMONT, N.C. — A convicted sex offender has been arrested again for child sexual exploitation charges.  Detectives from the Belmont Police Department conducted a joint investigation with the Gaston County Sheriff’s Office Sex Offender Unit regarding the sexual exploitation of minors.  On November 30, officers conducted a sex offender compliance check on Arey Matthew Morton at his residence at the Heritage Inn Motel on Wilkinson Blvd.

Authorities say they found dozens of images of children being sexually exploited. Some of those children are as young as five-years-old.   Belmont Police Department detectives obtained warrants on Morton for 10 counts of 2nd Degree Sexual Exploitation of a Minor and 10 counts of 3rd Degree Sexual Exploitation of a Minor.

Back in January, Morton was among a dozen men arrested after a child porn investigation in Cleveland County.  In that case, he received a suspended sentence and 30 months probation.

Morton is currently in the Gaston County jail without bond.