Mecham lived next to city park

MOUNTAIN HOME -- A Mountain Home man has been arrested for possessing child pornography and police reveal he should have been registered as a sex offender.

The suspect has lived in Mountain Home for seven years, and as NewsChannel 7 found out, he has a history of crimes against children.

Lorrie Elmer Mecham, 67, was convicted of molesting a little girl in Georgia in the mid-1980s, but by the time he completed his probation, Georgia didn't have a sex offender registry.

And when Mecham moved to Idaho, he simply fell through the cracks.

“Apparently Ms. Mecham came and brought in a cooler that had various pornographic materials in it.  After detectives investigated that, they found there was child pornography as well,” said Rick Viola, Mountain Home Police. 

It was Mecham's wife who turned him in to police.  After seven years of marriage, she became suspicious and scoured the house while her husband was on trip to Mexico.

She found just what she was looking for in a green cooler under the house.

“Later search warrants determined that there actually may have been some more child pornography, which we took into evidence for charges,” said Viola.

It turns out Mecham has a criminal history and should have registered as a sex offender in Idaho.

“Just in the past 10 to 15 years with the sex offender list and trying to keep track of these people, in transitioning from state to state, it's an opportunity for someone to fall through the cracks on something like that,” said Viola.

Mecham lived in a very family friendly neighborhood with lots of kids, and neighbors say other kids often went over to the Mecham's house to play with their grandson. His home is also right across the street from Legacy Park.

“We’re always concerned when we uncover something like this that there could be local victims, and in a situation like this we definitely want to make sure someone would come forward to local law enforcement and let us know if they have a concern,” said Viola.

Mecham is now being held on three counts of possession of child pornography.  His bond is set at $100,000.

Idaho's sex offender registry came online in 1993, but offenders who completed their sentence before that time are not required to register with the state.

Information about sex offenders who move out of state is passed on to the forwarding police department to ensure compliance.