City leader arrested at midnight on 12 counts of child-sex crimes, NC cops say

An elected city leader in Eastern North Carolina who serves as a youth sports coach was arrested early Tuesday on multiple child-sex charges, the State Bureau of Investigation said.

Peter “Pete” Devlin Van Vliet, a member of the Havelock Board of Commissioners, was taken into custody “without incident” at his home shortly after midnight on New Year’s Eve, the SBI said in a news release.

He has been charged with 12 counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, according to the SBI.

He was released from jail after posting bond, which was set at $100,000 by a Craven County magistrate, the SBI said.

“No additional information is available at this time as this is an ongoing investigation,” officials said.

The SBI said it made the arrest at the request of the Havelock Police Department.

Havelock, a coastal town of about 20,000 people, is known as the home of the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. It’s about 140 miles southeast of Raleigh.

Van Vliet, who was re-elected this year, coaches youth lacrosse, cross country and junior varsity basketball at Annunciation Catholic School, according to the town’s website.

He’s a native of New Jersey and was stationed in North Carolina at the Marine Corps Air Station at New River in 1997, the site says.

Van Vliet’s Linkedin page says he was first elected to the city commission in 2014 and is a planner at the Fleet Readiness Center East.

This story was originally published December 31, 2019 at 3:39 PM with the headline "City leader arrested at midnight on 12 counts of child-sex crimes, NC cops say."