10TV Meteorologist Mike Davis Arrested on Child Pornography Charges, Reports Say

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Mike Davis, a meteorologist with 10TV, faces child pornography charges, said police in a report from 10TV.

The Franklin County Municipal Court Records noted that the offense happened on Aug. 5, the Columbus, Ohio-based station said.

Davis was arrested on the morning of Sept. 5 and was charged with a second-degree felony for “pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor,” the report said.

The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force served a search warrant at his home to obtain his electronic devices. They also seized his laptop from the 10TV building.

As reported by the Circleville Herald, the crime is punishable by up to eight years in prison and a $15,000 fine. It’s not clear if he will have to register as a sex offender upon release.

Meanwhile, 10TV didn’t issue a statement on the matter after his arrest.

Davis, 60, lives in Upper Arlington, Ohio, and has been a TV weatherman since 1987.

Before arriving in Columbus, he worked at stations in Idaho, Las Vegas, and Minnesota, the Herald noted.

“He holds the American Meteorological Society Seal of Approval and the AMS Certificate of Broadcast Meteorology. He’s even served on the AMS Board of Broadcast Meteorology. Davis has won multiple Emmy and Associated Press Awards for Best Weathercast and Best Weather Operation,” the paper said, adding that he has covered everything from tornadoes, heat waves, snowstorms, and floods.

It’s not clear how the task force found out about the offense.

He is slated to make a court appearance on Sept. 6.

Other details about the case are not clear.

Epidemic

According to a report, Child Maltreatment 2010 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Children’s Bureau, 9.2 percent of victimized children are sexually assaulted in the country.

“1 in 5 girls and 1 in 20 boys is a victim of child sexual abuse. Self-report studies show that 20 percent of adult females and 5-10 percent of adult males recall a childhood sexual assault or sexual abuse incident,” according to the National Center for Victims of Crime.

It says that children in the country are most vulnerable to sexual abuse between the age of seven and 13 years.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has given some alarming statistics about child pornography. “Rarely a week goes by in the United States that a child pornographer is not charged or sentenced for federal crimes related to the sexual exploitation of children,” it said in a post The Scourge of Child Pornography on its website.

It said the producers and consumers of child pornography operate through anonymous Internet networks like Tor.

“The FBI’s analysis of one particularly egregious website on Tor found that it hosted approximately 1.3 million images depicting children subjected to violent sexual abuse. Analysis of these specific files identified at least 73 new victims previously unknown to law enforcement,” The FBI said.

Venus Upadhayaya contributed to this report.