(Host) A Rutland City police officer is being investigated for possible possession of child pornography.
The details of the investigation were brought to light ( today / on Tuesday ) after the contents of a search warrant – that had been sealed for more than four months – were made public.
VPR’s Nina Keck reports.
(Keck) A Rutland District Court judge granted a request made by the Rutland Herald to unseal the warrant.
But the name of the police officer involved was blacked out on all the documents thanks to a last minute request by the officer’s lawyer.
The story starts last August when a computer technician repairing a laptop used by the Rutland City Police Department found evidence of pornography.
The Vermont Internet Crimes Task Force was called in to analyze the computer. They found over a thousand pornographic images – 150 of which included child pornography.
A search warrant was granted in September authorizing police to search the officer’s work area.
A rack of pornographic DVDs, and other material, was found.
No one at the Rutland City Police Department would comment on the investigation. John Treadwell, the assistant attorney general handling the case, says he’s not aware of any connection between this and child pornography investigations that have occurred recently at the Vermont Police Academy. He declined to comment further.
For VPR News, I’m Nina Keck in Rutland.