Investigators with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office charged Joseph Mejer, 45, of Carrboro today with ten counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, a Class E felony.
After receiving an Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) tip, ICAC task force members began working this case in January 2025. Second-degree exploitation involves sharing material containing a visual representation of a minor engaged in sexual activity.
Assisted by Special Agent Ray Oliver of the Computer Crimes Unit at the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, investigators served a search warrant on Mejer at his residence this morning. The magistrate placed him into the custody of the detention center under a $5,000.00 secured bond and set his first court appearance for 2:00 pm tomorrow afternoon.
Investigator Gilchrist is the lead investigator, and more charges are possible. Anyone with information is asked to call him at (919) 245-2928.
Southeast Alamance’s women’s basketball team continued its march through the NCHSAA 2A state basketball playoffs this past week, as Amy Surratt’s Stallions outlasted Goldsboro 47-41 on March 4 in a tough road battle to reach the regional semifinal round. Then the Stallions stunned the No. 1 overall seed in the East Region Fairmont in a 43-33 road victory Friday night to reach the state semifinal round - just a single win away from playing for the NCHSAA 2A state championship.
Southeast now gets a rematch and fourth game with Mid-Carolina Conference rival Seaforth, who lost to the Stallions on their home court back in February, but beat Southeast twice on the Stallions’ home court, including most recently in the championship game of the Mid-Carolina Conference Tournament.
The final matchup of the season between the Stallions and the Hawks will be played at 2:00 p.m. Thursday afternoon in Winston-Salem, at Wake Forest’s Joel Coliseum. The winner will take on either East Burke or North Wilkes in the NCHSAA 2A state championship game over the weekend.
Southeast Alamance, the No. 12 overall seed in the East Region, had already beaten one higher-seeded team on the road in this year’s playoffs as they made the long trek to West Craven on February 28 and came away with an impressive 52-43 victory. Four nights later, they made another long trip down east, as they traveled 105 miles to take on No. 4 seed Goldsboro, who entered the game with an impressive 24-2 overall record.
The Cougars went a perfect 10-0 in the Neuse 6 Conference this winter, and then swept through Oxford Webb and St. Paul’s in the opening two rounds of the state playoffs by an average margin of victory of 28 points. They were a formidable opponent, but the Stallions were up to the challenge. Although the Stallions got off to a sluggish start - falling behind 16-10 at the end of the first quarter - the visitors from Haw River regrouped in the second quarter, outplaying the Cougars to pull within 23-21 at halftime.
The game stayed close through a defensive third quarter, with Southeast tying the score, 32-32, heading into the fourth quarter. In the final period the Stallions pulled away, outscoring the Cougars 15-9 over the final eight minutes to claim a thrilling 47-41 victory, which improved Southeast’s overall record to 26-3. Junior Shaniya Paylor led the way for the Stallions with 13 points, while junior Inysia McIver added 11 points. Sophomore Natalie Lopez contributed nine points in the victory, while junior Ciara Payton added seven points.
Junior Clara LaChapelle led the Stallions on the boards, picking up a team-high eight rebounds to go along with her five points. Paylor added five steals, as Southeast picked up 13 steals as a team. Although the Stallions made just one 3-pointer in the win - which came from Lopez - they made 10 critical free throws, which helped provide the final margin of victory.
On Friday night, the Stallions faced one of their toughest challenges of the entire season, as they traveled 130 miles south - down near the North Carolina-South Carolina state line - to face the No. 1 overall seed in the East Region, Fairmont. The Tornadoes entered the game with a lofty 24-1 overall record, which included a perfect 10-0 run through the Southeastern Conference for its third straight league title. Fairmont then produced three lopsided victories over Eastern Wayne, Southwest Edgecombe, and Nash Central in the opening three rounds of the state playoffs.
Fairmont was led by a unique collection of seniors, such as leading scorer and rebounder Taniya Simms, along with senior twins Miah and Niah Smith, and a pair of freshmen talents Aaliyah Duran and Lyric McNair. But against the Stallions, the Tornadoes were held to their lowest scoring output of the entire season. Southeast surprised the home team with their stiffly-packed zone defense, which minimized Fairmont’s ability to get the ball inside to Simms, and forced well over 20 turnovers.
The Stallions set the tone right out of the gate in a defensive struggle, building an early 9-6 lead at the end of the first quarter that stretched out to 20-12 at halftime, with LaChappelle scoring six first half points, and Paylor and McIver adding five each. The Stallions used a 7-0 run in the closing two minutes of the first half after the Tornadoes briefly got within a point at 13-12 late in the second quarter.
Southeast dominated the early part of the third quarter, stretching its lead out to 30-16 before the Tornadoes finally got going offensively. The Stallions led 30-19 heading into the third quarter, but the Tornadoes outscored Southeast 10-2 in the opening three minutes of the final period to briefly get within 32-29 and finally get the capacity crowd going inside Fairmont’s Michael D. Baker Gym.
But just when things began to look bleak for the Stallions, Natalie Lopez stopped the bleeding for Southeast with a huge 3-pointer, which ended the Fairmont rally, quieted the crowd a little, and gave the Stallions a 35-29 lead. The Tornadoes got within one possession at 36-33 with under two minutes to play, but the Stallions finished out the game on a 7-0 run to advance to the regional final in just their second season of play.
LaChapelle led the Stallions with 13 points in the huge win, while Paylor and McIver were also in double figures, with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Lopez added five points as the quartet wound up scoring 39 of Southeast’s 43 points in the victory, with freshman Rreanna Johnson scoring Southeast’s other four points. The Stallions picked up 14 steals as a team, and collected 35 rebounds.
Fairmont was led by Lyric McNair’s 10 points, while the Stallions, in a consummate defensive effort, held the Tornadoes’ leading scorer, Simms, to just six points in her last high school game. Southeast improved to 27-3 with the win, while Fairmont’s season ended at 24-2.