(Host) Rutland’s mayor says he’s confident state police are thoroughly investigating allegations that a city police officer may have downloaded child pornography.
VPR’s Nina Keck reports.
(Keck) Search warrant documents and police reports unsealed Tuesday provide details of an ongoing investigation that began last summer.
A Rutland City police officer, who’s not been identified, allegedly used a department laptop and collected over a thousand pornographic images while on duty.
150 of those images included child pornography. Racks of pornographic DVDs and other materials were found when state police searched his work area last September.
Rutland Mayor Christopher Louras says the situation is troubling but he’s not angry that he was not told about the ongoing investigation.
(Louras) "I have great faith in the attorney general’s office and the state police. And if the experts feel that there is no benefit to telling me of an investigation, then I’m going to have to take the experts’ word that that’s in the best interest of the investigation and the city."
(Keck) Rutland defense attorney Matt Harnett is representing the officer in question, who was put on administrative leave by the police February 5th.
Harnett wouldn’t say whether or not he’ll appeal the court’s decision to release his client’s name. But he pointed out that despite a months-long investigation, the state still hasn’t charged his client with a crime.
(Harnett) "And the fact that charges haven’t been brought suggest to me that we’re doing a tremendous disservice to my client and to everybody else in Vermont when sensational allegations are made, which may not be true, are widely publicized without being backed up by publicly filed criminal charges."
(Keck) John Treadwell, the assistant attorney general handling the case for the state, wouldn’t say when or if charges might be filed.
For VPR News, I’m Nina Keck in Rutland.