News

Local man charged with child sex offense

Ryan Patrick McFarland

By Lightning Reports, Published: October 7, 2020

After serving a search warrant at a home on Keeneland Drive on Wednesday, detectives from the Henderson County Sheriff's Office Major Crimes Unit, with assistance from the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security, charged a resident of that address with third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, the sheriff's office said.

The investigation began after detectives received a cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Evidence was located by detectives inside the home, which is off Howard Gap Road between Clear Creek and Brookside Camp roads. More charges are anticipated as the investigation continues, the sheriff's office said. McFarland was jailed under a $30,000 bond.