UNION COUNTY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) -- A Monroe man and former JCC employee has been arrested on several child exploitation charges, court documents show.
On March 16, a letter was sent to the JCC community regarding Joseph Velez, who "worked in various capacities" in the aquatics department.
According to court documents, Velez, 33, was charged on three separate occasions for second-degree sex exploitation of a minor. He was first arrested on Feb. 25, 2025, for 3 counts on Dec. 12, 2024. The next two arrests were on March 6, 2025, and March 12, 2025, for 7 counts in April 2014 and 10 counts in July 2021, respectively.
Velez allegedly had several pictures and videos of young boys and girls that showed nude and explicit material. The documents state the victims were between the ages of 1 and 14.
JCC officials say there is no indication that any of the offenses occurred at the JCC and Velez's employment was immediately terminated upon learning of his charges.
Suspect arrested following shooting that left a woman dead in west Charlotte: CMPD"We have a zero-tolerance policy for any such behavior and would never condone any action putting our community at risk. We are in contact with law enforcement and have offered our full cooperation," JCC leaders said in a statement.
Arrest records show Velez is being held on a $2 million bond for the 3 counts he was arrested for on Feb. 25. His next court date is scheduled for March 25, 2025.
"While no concerns were raised during his employment, we are electing to take the extra precautionary measure to conduct a full assessment of our existing child abuse prevention policies to further strengthen our community. As with all staff, [Velez] passed a thorough and expanded background check when he was hired and went through child abuse and prevention training, as is standard with our already comprehensive policies."
Queen City News reached out to the JCC to learn more about Velez's employment when he was with the JCC.
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