A search of his office uncovered a laptop an external hard drive containing thousands of pornographic images and videos involving children, officials said.
GRANBY, Conn. - A Granby police captain was charged Tuesday arrested with possession of child pornography after investigators found thousands of pictures and videos involving children on a laptop computer in his office.
David L. Bourque, 50, a resident of West Suffield, was taken into custody by federal and state officials, said David B. Fein, U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut. He was charged with a federal criminal complaint, Fein said.
According to the complaint, a Connecticut State Police trooper assigned to the State Police Computer Crimes Unit on two occasions in March was able to log onto a publicly available Internet file-sharing program and download several pornographic images involving
children. Investigators were able to trace the images to an account maintained by Bourque.
Two weeks ago, state police were given permission to search Bourque’s office and his work computers. The search uncovered a laptop computer in his office with an external hard drive containing thousands of encrypted pornographic videos and photos involving children, Fein said.
Police also searched his home, he said.
Bourque was released on $150,000 bail following his appearance Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas P. Smith in Hartford.
Judge Smith directed him to return a hospital where he has recently been receiving medical care.
Once he is released from the hospital, he is required to receive mental health counseling, to have no Internet access and no unsupervised contact with children. He was also ordered to not loiter around schools, playgrounds, arcades, or any other places where children under 18 congregate. If convicted, he faces as much as 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
Bourque is the second highest ranking officer in the department of 15 officers.
According to the Hartford Courant, he is also head of the North Central Municipal Regional Accident Reconstruction Team. Bourque has been a captain in Granby for about 18 months, and previously worked for nearly 30 years with the Suffield police.
He is currently on paid administrative leave