PORTSMOUTH, Va. – A man was charged with child pornography after police found 137 ‘erotic’ images and two videos, many with a 16-year-old runaway, according to officials.
On February 5, the father of the teen filed a runaway report with the Chesapeake Police Department, stating that his daughter had been missing for a day.
Lavelle Mayfield
Two days later, police interviewed the father and sister of the teen. The sister stated that she remembered the teen getting into an SUV with a man they knew from their church.
The sister also stated that the man from church, who was later identified as Lavelle Mayfield of Portsmouth, had exchanged food and alcohol with the teen in the days prior.
Record checks revealed that Mayfield was a registered sex offender and was still under parole until September 2021. The record also showed that Mayfield has several sexual conduct charges in Minnesota from 1994, 1995, and 1999. All the convictions were listed with the victim being a minor.
On February 8, the Virginia State Police Trooper responsible for the State Sex Offender Investigation Unit was informed of the suspect, Mayfield, and decided to stop by Mayfield’s home. Though Mayfield or the teen weren’t home, a roommate claimed the teen looked familiar.
Officials executed a search warrant on February 12 at Mayfields home in Portsmouth but neither him or the teen were there. According to the teen’s father, she had returned home on February 12. That next day, Mayfield was arrested for Delinquency of a Minor and booked into the Chesapeake City Jail.
The teen was interviewed and said that she had been with Mayfield from February 4 – 8, and then with other people for the few days after they learned police were looking for them.
The teen told police that her and Mayfield did have sex in his home and inside Mayfield’s car. She also told police that he had taken nude photos of her with his cell phone and video while they engaged in sex.
A search warrant to examine Mayfield’s phone was executed on February 15. An analysis of his phone and SD card revealed 137 images and 2 videos of child pornography. Many of the images were Mayfield and the teen in bed together engaged in sexual activity.
Records say that two other images seem to be another minor female nude inside Mayfield’s home from 2016.
