Morganton man arrested for sex offenses and meth possession

Steven Kyle South, 35, of Hillhaven Circle in Morganton was arrested by Burke County Sheriff's officers on charges of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, failure to register as a sex offender and possession of methamphetamine.

On August 19, the Sheriff's Office received a tip from the National Center of Missing & Exploited Children regarding the suspected distribution of child pornography. An investigation led to the execution of a search warrant at South's residence on August 28.

South was taken into custody and held on $50,000 bail. An initial appearance in Morganton District Court was scheduled for today (August 29). The investigation is ongoing.

South has a criminal history in Burke County that includes arrests in 2008 for failure to register as a sex offender, 2009 for probation violation, 2013 for failure to provide a new address as a sex offender, probation violation and failure to register as a sex offender, and 2015 for failure to provide a new address as a sex offender.