Charles Franklin Knight
CHARLOTTE -- A former Boy Scout leader who was arrested and charged with having child pornography on his computer appeared in court Tuesday.
Charles Franklin Knight, 62, was released from the Mecklenburg County jail around 5 a.m. Tuesday after posting bail. He faces six counts of third-degree exploitation of a minor.
Knight's appearance in court was short as he has an attorney to represent him. News 14 Carolina caught up with him as he left the courtroom.
News 14 Carolina's Johnell Johnson is at the Mecklenburg County Courthouse with more details on the case.
“I can’t comment as much as I’d love to,” he said. "I’m a gentle person. After this is all over, I’ll answer any questions you have.”
A neighbor whose apartment is below Knight’s says a repairman made the discovery after being called to Knight’s home to fix an air conditioner. The woman says her boyfriend’s mother called police after the air conditioning unit in Knight's apartment began to leak into theirs.
Investigators say Knight turned over some child pornography, which allegedly included inappropriate Internet images as well as a laptop computer.
Knight told police he's been involved with the Boy Scouts for 50 years and co-coordinated a home-based youth program at Christ Church in Gastonia. The church and the Boy Scouts have a rule of never leaving children alone with adults but none of that is comforting for neighbors.
“As a father-to-be, when I think of things like that, it just makes my blood boil,” said neighbor Tony Kamper. “It’s just so sick that you wonder how something like this happened in this neighborhood."
To make sure they hire the right people to be leaders within the organization, the Boy Scouts perform background checks and they say they make sure there is no one-on-one contact between children and adults.