A Dallas police officer is charged with uploading sexually explicit images of children using the City of Dallas’ employee internet, federal prosecutors said Thursday.
Sr. Cpl. Daniel Collins, 35, was arrested last week by Homeland Security investigators. He was held in the Tarrant County Jail on a charge of transportation of child pornography, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Erin Nealy Cox said in a news release.
Collins is accused of uploading sexually explicit pictures of young girls to his Google accounts while logged into the city's internet network, Cox said. Google flagged the images -- one being uploaded May 13 to an account tagged "Dan Collins" and two more June 29 to an account tagged "John Smith -- to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which filed a Cyber Tipline report with the Dallas Police Department, Cox said.
The report said one of the Google profiles had a picture of Collins in police uniform.
The release said Collins admitted to accessing the Google accounts and saving pornographic pictures.
Collins has been with the Dallas Police Department since July 2007 and was assigned to the Auto Theft Unit. He has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
