Local

Former corporate executive charged with making child porn at Lake Wylie home

LAKE WYLIE, S.C. — A former business vice president is accused of setting up a hidden camera in a bathroom in his home.

Mark Steven Ehrnschwender, 61, is accused of recording young girls for more than a decade.

Ehrnschwender turned himself in Monday at the York County Sheriff's Office. He faces one count of voyeurism and 11 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. His bond was denied.

[9 Investigates: Some child porn users avoid lengthy prison sentences]

York County sheriff's deputies got a call from the attorney general's office in September about a lead on a child porn case. They believed they'd located the address of someone who shared child pornography files online from a computer.

The investigation led to Ehrschwender's home on Summerside Drive in Lake Wylie. Deputies discovered terabytes worth of videos they said Ehrnschwender recorded himself by placing a hidden camera in a bathroom.

Arrest warrants go back to 2007 and detail videos made nine times of young girls either showering, changing or using the bathroom in his home.

In two of the videos, deputies said Ehrnschwender was seen placing the camera and later coming back to retrieve it.

The last warrant alleges that he shared child porn online on Sept. 17, which was what tipped the attorney general's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

Ehrnschwender was a vice president at a company called Cormetech based in Charlotte with an office in Kings Mountain.

[ALSO READ: Growing SC task force targets sexual predators online]

Cormetech, Inc. sent Channel 9 a statement Tuesday:

“Mark Steven Ehrnschwender has not been employed with the company since June 8, 2018. He was separated from the company as a part of a reduction of force.

“The company was not aware of any activity similar to what's being reported in the news.

“They have no knowledge of this behavior.”

Ehrnschwender was also an adviser for the School of Engineering at the University of North Carolina.

Deputies investigating the case said he knew the victims, since they were at his home.  However, they won't say what their relation is to him, if any, or how many there were.

If convicted on all charges, Ehrnschwender faces up to 193 years in prison.

Read more top trending stories on wsoctv.com: