MARION COUNTY — A 19-year-old Salem man was arrested Wednesday by Salem police on multiple child sex crime charges following an investigation spurred by a tip to the Internet Crimes against Children.

Dustin Peach
(Source: MCSO)

According to police reports, Dustin Peach was arrested Wednesday afternoon in the 300 block of South Lackey Avenue on charges of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child and on three counts child pornography.

The investigation led members of the Salem Police Department and a member of the Internet Crimes against Children Task Force from the Jefferson County Sherriff’s Office to execute a search warrant last week on Peach’s home on South Lackey.

During the search, officials reportedly seized items that included his phone that allegedly contained three photos of a sex act being committed against a child under the age of three.

Peach reportedly admitted to officers during questioning that he had committed the acts against the child in the photos. The acts were reportedly committed against the child and the photos taken in December 2020 when Peach was babysitting the child to whom he has no relation.

Peach was taken to the Marion County Jail Wednesday and was charged Friday morning in Marion County Court with four Class X felonies, one for predatory criminal sexual assault of a child under the age of 13 and three counts child pornography.