Dallas Police Department Officer Daniel Collins, 35, pleaded guilty to uploading sexually explicit images of children using the City of Dallas’ employee internet, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Erin Nealy Cox. The guilty plea was on August 21.
Collins was a senior corporal with the department assigned to the Auto Theft Unit.
According to News Channel 10 Collins uploaded sexually explicit photos of prepubescent girls to his various Google accounts via the City of Dallas’ internet network.
Google flagged the images – one uploaded on May 13 to an account tagged “Dan Collins” and two more uploaded on June 29 to an account tagged “John Smith” – to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which filed a Cyber Tip line report with the Dallas Police Department.
In the report, they noted that one of the profiles included a photo of a man in a police uniform, later determined to be Collins.
A Dallas IT specialist traced the IP addresses used for the uploads to the City of Dallas internet network. Investigators determined that the same Google accounts were also accessed from Collin’s residence.
In an interview with federal agents, Mr. Collins admitted to accessing the Google accounts and saving child pornography.
U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox released this statement:
“Law enforcement officers take an oath to protect and serve. This defendant allegedly undermined that vow, preying upon our most vulnerable. The Department of Justice will not tolerate the exploitation of children – especially by our public servants.”
Collins faces up to 20 years in federal prison. Collins resigned from the Dallas Police Department before he could be fired.
