CHINA GROVE — Rowan County Sheriff’s deputies have charged a 22-year-old China Grove man with the sexual exploitation of a minor, according to the department’s public information officer, Captain Mark McDaniel.

In a release Thursday night, McDaniel said the department received a report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on Feb. 24 indicating a resident in a Frontier Circle, China Grove home was in possession of child sexual abuse material.

Investigators were able to trace the images to Matthew William Epley. They gathered enough evidence to charge Epley with 10 counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor.

Epley was arrested and charged on March 13 and has since been released on a $75,000 secured bond. The investigation remains open as detectives review the evidence in the case to try and identify any victims. Epley is due in court for his first appearance in Rowan Superior Court Friday, March 14.