LAURINBURG — A Laurinburg man has been charged this week in a 2010 sexual abuse case reopened by the Scotland County Sheriff’s Office’s Cold Case Investigative Team.
Melvin Spencer Locklear, 78, was arrested Tuesday on 36 counts of first-degree sexual offense against a child less than 13 years of age, according to the Scotland County Sheriff’s Office. He also faces 36 counts of indecent liberties with a minor child and one count of crimes against nature.
The charges stem from a criminal complaint of sexual abuse from January 2010, according to the sheriff’s office.
Locklear was arrested at 16500 Andrew Jackson Highway in Laurinburg.
He was jailed at the Scotland County Detention Center under a bond of $3.5 million.
The sheriff’s department established the cold case team last week.
“We are reviewing these cases as expediently as possible for the citizens, and especially these countless victims,” Lt. Jessica Sadovnikov said on the post on the sheriff’s office Facebook page. “We hope to see a significant number of arrests on cases that remain unsolved … These cases are just as important to our team as the current investigations managed under our criminal investigative division.”