Middlesboro Man Arrested For Sex Offenses Involving Family Members

From the Bell County Ky Sheriff's Department -

John Melton - BCDC

Deputies and USMS Central Kentucky Fugitive task force served an arrest warrant in the Polly Hollow community on 56-year-old John Melton for sex offenses.  During the execution of arrest/search warrant, Melton took a substantial amount of time before coming out of the residence.

During the incident to arrest, law enforcement units noticed a cell phone case and could not locate the cell phone. Officers obtained the phone number associated with Melton and followed audio cues finding his cell phone in the woods behind the house next to the back door.

Prior to the search warrant execution Bell County Deputies lead by Detective Hunter Luttrell were called to a domestic violence incident the week of August 10th in the Polly Hollow community. 

Detective Luttrell contacted DCBS to interview family members and during the course of the investigation, it was alleged that Melton had performed sex acts on and in front of minors that were identified as his family members.  Two recent instances revealed that he had performed these acts in the past, as far back as 2014.

John Melton was arrested and lodged in the Bell County Detention Center charged with sexual abuse – 1^st degree – child under the age of 12, sodomy – 1^st degree - child under the age of 12, rape – 1^st degree – child under the age of 12, incest – 1^st degree – child under the age of 12, and tampering with physical evidence.