Asheville man sentenced to prison in child exploitation case
Ten child-exploitation convictions became a 2.2-to-7.7-year prison term for an Asheville man after a June 1 guilty plea in Buncombe County.
How did 10 child-exploitation convictions turn into a prison term of 2.2 to 7.7 years? For Asheville resident Bruce Ellison McCall, 65, the answer lies in North Carolina’s sentencing structure and the terms of the guilty plea he entered in Buncombe County.
McCall pleaded guilty June 1 to five counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and five counts of third-degree sexual exploitation. He was sentenced June 11 to a prison term of between 2.2 and 7.7 years after the Buncombe County District Attorney’s Office and the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office moved the case through the courts.
The allegations were especially disturbing because the children involved were reported to be between 2 and 10 years old. WLOS reported that the sheriff’s office arrested McCall on March 2 on multiple child sexual abuse material charges, setting off a case that moved from arrest to plea in just over three months.
North Carolina law draws a sharp line between the two felony counts McCall admitted to. Second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor covers recording, photographing, filming, developing or duplicating material that contains a visual representation of a minor engaged in sexual activity. Third-degree sexual exploitation covers possession of material that contains a visual representation of a minor engaged in sexual activity. State law also requires people convicted of reportable offenses against minors to register as sex offenders, adding a long-term consequence that extends far beyond the prison term itself.
The case also fits into a larger enforcement system. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children describes its CyberTipline as the nation’s centralized reporting system for online exploitation of children, and it reported more than 21.3 million CyberTipline reports in 2025. More than 19.5 million of those were child pornography reports, and about 1.41 million involved online enticement of children for sexual acts.
For Buncombe County, the sentencing closes one chapter in a case that began with a March arrest and ended with a guilty plea and prison term. The range handed down reflects North Carolina’s structured sentencing system, which uses offense levels and criminal history to set minimum and maximum terms rather than a single fixed number.
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