Melvin A. Ehrlich, 52, is a pediatric dentist being charged with possession and distribution of child pornography according to a news release from the Middlesex district attorney’s office.
Ehrlich was arraigned Thursday in Framingham District Court on three counts of possession of child pornography and two counts of distribution of child pornography.
He was arrested Wednesday and pleaded not guilty at his arraignment.
The case remains under development and investigation and there is currently no evidence that presently leads law enforcement to believe that Ehrlich physically abused any children or manufactured any images of child pornography.
Ehrlich had sent his laptop computer to a service provider for maintenance work, according to the release and Framingham police were contacted after the discovery of downloaded images of child pornography on the computer. Authorities immediately launched an investigation that they say revealed Ehrlich had used the laptop under many different user names to download and distribute commercially traded child pornography images.
Ehrlich was released on a $10,000 cash bail with conditions to commit no new crimes and not to use a computer except at his place of business for work-related purposes only. The prosecutor had requested that Ehrlich have no further contact with children under 18 and that he be held on $25,000 cash bail.