Homeland Security took a Turlock man into custody Thursday morning as part of an investigation into a child pornography ring.
The department did not offer many details about the arrest other than to say it was part of an ongoing investigation and that the suspect was likely to be arraigned in federal court today.
Before the sun rose Thursday morning law enforcement had swarmed around a home in the 900 block of Cedar Ridge Drive in Turlock.
Homeland Security did not release the suspect’s name, but neighbors identified him as Jeffrey Metcalfe. A search of the Fresno County Jail records, where federal detainees are booked for this area, showed a Jeffrey Metcalfe, 46, was booked into custody.
A review of Stanislaus County Superior Court records show a misdemeanor charge of possession of child pornography was lodged against Metcalfe in 2003, but dismissed the following year.
Neighbors on Cedar Ridge said at the time a detective informed them Metcalfe was the subject of an investigation involving Internet child pornography.
In 1992, Metcalfe, then 24 years old, was arrested in Oregon with two juvenile females. According to the Heppner-Gazette Times, which reported on the incident, Metcalfe pled guilty to two counts of first-degree custodial interference. Metcalfe admitted to enticing the two girls to go with him out of state without the permission of their parents.
At the time Metcalfe was on probation in California and had been ordered to have no contact with one of the girls.
He was sentenced to three years formal probation and ordered to undergo an evaluation as a sex offender.