Melton Franklin Cauley - Repeat Sex Offender

An Athens man has been arrested by the FBI on charges of producing, possessing and receiving child pornography, records show.

FBI Special Agent Carmen Adams announced Friday that Melton Franklin Cauley, 44, was arrested Thursday at his aunt’s home in Owensboro, Ky.

Cauley was indicted in July 2007 on two counts of production of child pornography, one count of possession of child pornography, and one count of receipt of child pornography. These indictments were the result of a joint investigation by the FBI, the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office and the Athens Police Department.

Sheriff’s Department Chief Investigator Stanley McNatt said earlier this week in response to a statewide sweep of alleged sex offenders that Cauley was the county’s only unaccounted for registered sex offender. He said the Sheriff’s Department obtained a warrant for Cauley’s arrest because he moved from the area without notifying authorities.

Athens Police originally arrested Cauley in 2004 on a separate charge.

A detention hearing is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the federal courthouse in Bowling Green, Ky. He is currently being held in the Davis County Jail.

Adams thanked the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office, the Athens Police Department, FBI agents from the Louisville division, Owensboro Resident Agency, and the Owensboro Police Department Fugitive Task Force for their help in the investigation and subsequent arrest.

An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it is the government’s burden to prove a defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.