Two Alabama, North Carolina Men Held on Multiple Child Sexual Exploitation Charges

James Joel Letarte, a 67-year-old man from Mooresville, North Carolina, was arrested following a police investigation triggered by a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Authorities executed a search warrant at his residence on Holly Ridge Drive, seizing multiple electronic devices which forensic analysts found contained extensive child sexual abuse material. Initially charged with two counts each of second-degree sexual exploitation of a child and third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, Letarte posted bond but was later re-arrested on ten additional counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and resisting a public officer. He is currently held without bond at the Iredell County Jail. Separately, Daniel Allen Hartman, a 31-year-old man from Loxley, Alabama, was arrested on multiple child sexual abuse charges, including first-degree rape and sodomy, following an investigation that revealed he preyed on children across two states for nine years and crossed state lines for these offenses. Hartman is being held on a $135,000 bond, and further charges are expected related to other victims.