Feds: Detroit cop caught with child porn

A longtime Detroit police officer is charged with allegedly possessing and distributing child pornography, according to a complaint filed Wednesday in federal court.

Officer Miguel Martinez, a 29-year police veteran, was suspended without pay after federal charges were filed in U.S. District Court.

According to the nine-page complaint, an undercover sheriff’s deputy in Reno, Nevada, discovered several videos depicting prepubescent children engaged in sexual activity, some of them with adult men. The videos had been downloaded from a file-sharing program to an IP address allegedly belonging to Martinez.

Agents seized computers and other items Tuesday from Martinez’s home on Ridge View Drive in Trenton, the complaint said.

Martinez is suspected to have downloaded “at least 100 files of investigative interest to child pornography investigations,” according to the complaint.

When agents interviewed Martinez, “he admitted to using the ... file-sharing program,” the complaint said. “Martinez said that (he) ‘may have seen’ child pornography files.”

Detroit Police Chief James Craig told reporters Wednesday the allegations are “deeply troubling.”

“When you talk about allegations of this nature, it’s just horrible,” Craig said.

“We want our community to know ... we take any criminal allegation seriously,” Craig said. “We will investigate, we will push for prosecution.”

ghunter@detroitnews.com

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Twitter: @GeorgeHunter_DN