(Memphis) Thaddeus Matthews has been indicted on three felony counts for posting on his Facebook page a photograph of female child under age 5 performing a sex act on an adult male.
Matthews, 56, was indicted on charges of especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor and sexual exploitation of a minor.
The picture was posted to his Facebook page on Nov. 13, 2012, “while broadcasting his show live on the internet and commenting on the picture while it was posted.”
Matthews isn’t new to controversy.
He believes his history has a lot to do with this current grand jury indictment he now faces.
Matthews brags that he tells the stories that the local mainstream media may shy away from.
It’s his niche and it may be his burden to bear.
He’ll now have to justify why one story was so important he posted a picture of a small child performing a sex act on a grown man on the web.
When WREG called Matthews this morning, he was unaware of the indictment.
He said we were the first to alert him and he had not heard anything from District Attorney Amy Weirich’s office since his initial arrest last November.
He said, “Did I expect it? Yea, I expected it. My question is what happened to the juveniles involved or is this selective prosecution?”
Matthews posted the photo on his Facebook page November 2012 and according to the district attorney while broadcasting his talk show live on the internet, commented on the picture while it was posted.
Matthews told police a woman sent him the picture and he posted it on Facebook to help police find the man involved.
He said he didn’t notify the cops about it because he thought they already knew the picture existed.
Today, Matthews told WREG, “Everyone knows even my enemies know, there was no criminal intent.”
He added, “My intent was to save a child.”
A 13 and 16-year-old girl were also charged with sexual exploitation after they posted the same photo on Facebook.
We tried to find out where their cases stand. County offices are closed for the holiday and a spokesperson for the district attorney’s office said he didn’t know.
Also, it appears the man in that photo was never identified or arrested.
As for Matthews he will likely be arraigned in criminal court next week.
If found guilty he could face anywhere from 2 to 30 years in prison.
