Granite Falls man charged with 4 Counts of Second-Degree Sexual Exploitation of a Child

GRANITE FALLS, NC (November 6, 2023) ⇒ On Friday, November 3rd, 2023, Investigators with the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office along with the assistance of agents with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation executed two search warrants at the residence of Ashely James Crouse and his place of employment. The search warrants were obtained after The Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office received an exploitation Cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Investigators collected items from both search warrant locations to be forensically examined for material depicting child exploitation.

The Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office along with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation are members of the Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce Program (ICAC) which is a multi-jurisdictional coalition of Federal, State, and Local Law Enforcement that are dedicated to investigating, prosecuting, and developing effective responses to Internet Crimes against Children.

Ashley James Crouse, age 51 is currently charged with:

• 4 Counts of Second-Degree Sexual Exploitation of a Child
• Additional Charges are expected

Crouse has been placed in the Caldwell County Detention Center under a $1,000,000.00 Secured Bond his first appearance set for 11/06/2023 in District Court in Lenoir, NC.

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