Cary police: Raleigh man arrested in March had child porn on computer

A man whom police charged last month with soliciting for sex with a minor was charged Wednesday with 24 counts of sexual videos and pictures of young girls on his home computer.

Thomas Paul Keeler, 46, of 320 Hill St. in Raleigh, was charged at the Wake County Detention Center, where he has been held since his arrest March 24 on a common law charge of soliciting to commit a felony.

Capt. Randall Rhyne, head of Cary’s investigative division, said detectives charged Keeler then because he was soliciting for sex with a juvenile a few days before his arrest.

They arrested him at a Red Roof Inn.

The new charges, 24 counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, stemmed from material police found on his computer when they executed a search warrant the day they arrested him in March, Rhyne said.

The charges include video files and still photos, arrest warrants said.

The new charges raised Keeler’s total bail to $740,000 on all the charges. He was scheduled to appear in court Thursday on the exploitation charges.

He has an April 18 court date regarding the March 24 charge.

This story was originally published April 7, 2016 at 12:00 PM with the headline "Cary police: Raleigh man arrested in March had child porn on computer."