MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A Miami-Dade police officer is under arrest facing charges of possessing child pornography and sexual performance by a child.
Officer David Behney, 33, was brought to TGK on Thursday night.
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A senior law enforcement source told CBS4 News, this investigation began several weeks ago when the Miami-Dade Police Cyber Crimes Unit received information that there was an active child pornography website and that someone locally was downloading images from that site.
Police began an investigation not knowing who the individual was but as they traced the IP address for the downloads, they discovered it was Behney, one of their own, a Miami-Dade police officer who has been with the department for six years.
Investigators say they found 19 videos on the officer’s cell phone. They were described as hardcore, explicit videos of children, believed to be between the ages of 8 and 13.
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Detectives have also seized the officer’s home computer and all other electronic devices and if they find additional images and videos, additional charges will be filed.
CBS4 News was told Behney was cooperating with detectives then suddenly stopped.
Miami-Dade Police Director George Perez sent out a statement that read, “Our children trust us to keep them safe and out of harm’s way. Not only as law enforcement, but as a father, a crime against a child is intolerable — and will never be accepted. It sickens me to learn that one of our law enforcement officers is involved in betraying that trust. We will ensure transparency to our community and will provide an update as this investigation continues.”
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Behney faces 19 felony counts. He has been relieved of duty.
