A Charlotte Mecklenburg Public Schools middle school teacher has been arrested on child pornography charges.

WBT’s Brett Jensen broke the news today that the CMS school board had been notified Community House Middle School teacher Adrian Wayne Taylor had been arrested on child porn charges.

According to the charging documents, the 47-year-old Taylor has been charged with three counts of felony second degree sexual exploitation of a minor.

The charges are Class E felonies which carry a sentence of 15 to 63 months in prison per instance.

He has been issued an unsecured bond of $75,000 per charge or $115,000 in total. The Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s office inquiry tool does not list Taylor as an active inmate.

Arrest records show Taylor was arrested in Matthews, which matches the voter registration location listed for him.

Sources say the CMS Superintendent Earnest Winston has suspended Taylor with pay upon learning the charges. This was confirmed by Jensen.

Licensure records on file with the state show an active teaching license for Taylor which expires in 2023:

Current Date: 02/08/2022 12:56 PM
License Number: 1042523
Name: TAYLOR, ADRIAN WAYNE
License Type: Educator
License Status: Current
Expiration Date: 06/30/2023
Effective Date: 07/01/2018
License Area(s): Speech Communications K-12
English 9-12
Language Arts 6-9

The Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) issued a press statement on the arrest which said their Cyber Crime Unit had charged “Adrian Wayne Taylor, DOB: 12/13/1974, with Second Degree Sexual Exploitation of a Minor.”

The statement says that the CMPD Cyber Crimes Unit and the FBI began an into the possession and distribution of illegal pornographic material on Nov. 24, 2021. That investigation led to a search warrant being executed at Taylor’s home in Matthews, North Carolina on Feb. 8, 2022.

“During the course of the search warrant, physical evidence of the crime of 2nd Degree Sexual Exploitation of a Minor was located. Adrian Wayne Taylor was present at the address and was identified as the suspect of this investigation,” reads CMPD’s statement. “During the course of the investigation, detectives found that Taylor was an employee of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School system.”

According to the statement, the investigation is “in its early stages” and CMPD asks that anyone with information call Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600 or submit a tip online at http://charlottecrimestoppers.com.

For additional information about this case, please refer to the report: 20211124-1126-01.